Anywhere That You Tell Me Series
by Vashti
Summary: Despite living a life independent, and geographically distant, from her mother it seems that their lives are more deeply intertwined than they've ever been now that Tony knows she exists. (Follow-up to the "Where You Lead" trilogy.)
1. Anchor (post-IM3)

**Title**: Anchor  
**Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me  
**Author**: Vashti  
**Fandom**: Iron Man 3  
**Characters**: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, OC  
**Rating**: PG  
**Summary**: She had to trot to keep up with Tony's determined stride but Tony noticed that she didn't pull away even after they were inside.  
**Length**: ~397 words  
**Spoiler**: Iron Man 3  
**Disclaimer**: Only the words are mine, and that's probably up for philosophical debate.  
**Dedication**: _ because you asked :)  
**Author's Note**: This is a series of sometimes connected, sometimes unconnected, short stories based on my trilogy, "Where You Lead". The stories center around Pepper's daughter, Sophie, in some way although Sof isn't always the main character. Unfortunately, each story is a one-shot that is not tied to a larger or longer work, with few exceptions. This crosses between IM2, IM3 and Avengers. I don't think I'll be pulling in Agents of SHIELD or either Thor movies, although elements of Captain America may crop up.

* * *

_"Who's this, Tony?"_

_"You and Pepper break up, Tony?"_

_"Is this your new girlfriend?"_

_"Miss! Miss! How old are you, Miss?"_

_"Won't Ms. Potts be offended when she finds out you brought your latest conquest to visit her in the hospital."_

Tony turned towards the reporter—why was it always Vanity Fair?—and with both eyebrows climbing high over his sunglasses, said, "Well considering she's my daughter, I doubt it. Come on, kid, your mom's waiting."

Reaching back, Tony caught Sophie's wrist as it swung close and pulled her close. She quickly shook out of the hold, grabbing at his hand instead. She had to trot to keep up with Tony's determined stride as he muscled them through the stunned reporters thronging outside the hospital taking care of Pepper. Even the hospital security was surprised, and overwhelmed, by the media turnout.

A fresh wave of questions crashed over them as the hospital doors slid open.

"Mom's gonna be so mad." Sophie's voice was thick with snot and unshed tears, but Tony noticed that she didn't pull away even after they were inside and well away from the prying eyes, ears and smartphones of the reporters outside.

Inside the elevator, Tony dropped her hand and turned to her in favor of briskly rubbing her biceps. He couldn't see the tears behind her sunglasses, but her nose was bright red and her cheeks were splotchy. Her muscles trembled under his hands. "Your mom's gonna be okay. I designed the tech they're using on Pepper myself."

Sophie whispered, "Okay." Her lip quirked on side with a hint of her usual mischief. _"Dad."_

Tony smirked for them both. "Yeah, I thought that was good, too. I mean, it worked, right? Got'em to give us some breathing room."

Smiling and shaking her head slowly, Sophie said again, "Mom is gonna be so..." Covering her mouth, she sobbed. "I'm sorry. I know she's okay..." She tried swiping at her eyes, but she'd forgotten the sunglasses on her face and only managed to half-knock them off.

Tony gently pulled them off, pocketing them.

"I'm sorry. I just... Delayed reaction, I guess?" She sobbed again.

Twisting on his feet, Tony hit the emergency stop. Her hands covering her face, Sophie hardly seemed to notice—not until he'd wordlessly folded her into his arms and she collapsed against his chest. He hit the button again when she was ready.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: This scene, Sophie trotting behind Tony as they pass through a gauntlet of reporters, has been running through my mind since before I finished the 2nd "Where You Lead" story, although it wasn't always this schmoopy.


	2. Shadows on the Wall (Avengers)

******Title**: Shadows on the Wall**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: Avengers**  
****Characters**: Phil Coulson, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, OC**  
****Rating**: PG**  
****Summary**: Pepper isn't the only Potts who enjoys an amiable relationship with Agent Phil Coulson.  
******Length**: ~785 words**  
****Spoiler**: none**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1**  
****Author's Note**: This is one of those "scenes" I mentioned in the Author's Notes in chapter 1. As such, some of the dialogue between canon characters is lifted directly from the movie (thank you, Scribd). If it sounds familiar, it is, although I tried not to simply re-write the scene. Also, I'm writing this as part of my NaNoWriMo assignment. There may be glaring mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me.

* * *

Sophie figuratively stood over Phil Coulson's shoulder in the elevator as a distant SHIELD tech worked on poor JARVIS. "You're going to give him a complex."

"Who, Stark?" Coulson asked, eyes still glued to the tablet PC in his hands, monitoring the progress on breaking down the Stark security system.

"No...JARVIS! How many times have you guys overridden him? He's going to start thinking he's inadequate or something, or feel like he's not the AI that Tony and Stark Industries needs."

Sophie's earnestness pulled Coulson's eyes away from his tablet long before she finished speaking. "You have single-handedly diminished my hope and faith in our future."

Her eyebrows climbed. "Me? What about the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world."

Coulson was shrugging, ready to concede the point when his earpiece beeped. He touched it, listening briefly to the person on the other side. "Thank you." He turned to Sophie. "Want me to drop you off on your floor?"

"And miss this? You're nuts."

"They don't know I'm coming. They could be, um..." Coulson colored faintly. "They could be less than prepared to receive company."

Sophie frowned. "They could be what?"

Coulson raised an eyebrow, staring at her intently. "Stark. Your mom. Alone. At night and not expecting company? Or even wanting any?" Sophie had been with him when Coulson had attempted the first, rebuffed, phone call. "If it was just your mom I'm sure things would be fine, but Tony has a reputation-"

"Omigod." Sophie paled.

A vague, not at all happy, smile pulled at his lips as he called Stark back. "Stark we need to talk."

_"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark-"_ Because Tony insisted on the latest and greatest toys, many of them self-designed, Sophie was privy to both sides of the conversation held via video phone. She did, however, have to be careful to stay beyond the range of the tablet's camera. _"—please leave a message."_

"This is urgent."

_"Then leave it urgently."_

The elevator doors opened. And, thank God, both Stark and Pepper were fully dressed. Although only one of them was happy. "Security breach," said Tony. He turned to Pepper. "That's on you."

Sophie quickly stepped out from around the SHIELD agent. "Guess who I found on my way over? Uncle Phil!"

"Sophie!" Pepper and Tony said together. Only Pepper formally invited Phil iinto the penthouse as well.

"Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent. And definitely not 'Uncle.'" Tony turned shrewd eyes on Sophie. "Are you the reason why JARVIS let him up here?" His eyes raked over her conservative pantsuit. "What'd Coulson do, convert you in elevator?"

Shaking her head, Sophie snorted. "Of course not, and not even. If it doesn't swim in the deep brown river, I don't know anything about it. Hacking JARVIS was all Uncle Phil. Sorry, JARVIS."

_"Quite all right, Miss Sophie."_

"And what is this Uncle Phil thing?! I date your mom for two years and I'm still Mr. Stark. He's an agent for a shadowy government body and he gets _Uncle?_"

Sophie shrugged. "Um...yes? You were the one who didn't want to be my mob enforcer male relative."

Tony rolled his eyes, wondering out loud where exactly things had gone wrong.

"How are things with the cellist?" Pepper was asking Phil a few steps away.

Tony whipped around. "Are you two _friends_?"

Sophie dared to breach his personal space grab his arm. "She still likes you best." Using his arm as a brace, she leaned up and bussed his cheek. "I'm going to grab something from the kitchen."

"How'd the River Mark S do in the field?" Tony's voice was low.

Sophie beamed. "Amazing. I think the video of it in action put us over the top at our meeting this morning."

"Is that why you look like a junior SHIELD agent?"

Sophie snorted, stepping away from Tony. "Mom, I'll be in the kitchen."

"Sof, don't go too far," Pepper called out. "I want to hear all about that grant meeting of yours."

"Call me when you're done!" she shouted back, waving her mobile phone over her head as she left them. "I might crash downstairs."

Tony mumbled something uncomplimentary about crashing before turning his full attention back to Pepper and _Agent_ Phil Coulson. Sophie watched them for a moment, leaning against a hallway junction, and smiled. She and her mom both really liked the mild-mannered agent. She was sure Tony eventually would, too, if only for her mother's sake. As she watched, the three of them went through a complicated tablet-champagne exchange that she was too far to hear.

Alright, maybe someday Tony would _tolerate_ Uncle Phil, she thought as she turned the corner in search of food.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: The issue of "Uncle Phil" vs. "Mr. Stark" is another scene that came to me while working on the Where You Lead trilogy. It sort of wrote itself over the course of that series.**  
**


	3. BFF's (post-Avengers)

******Title**: BFF'S**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: Avengers**  
****Characters**: Pepper Potts, OC**  
****Rating**: G**  
****Summary**: "Sophie Hélène, is this your roundabout way of telling me you're seeing someone?"  
******Length**: ~810 words**  
****Spoiler**: Avengers**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1**  
****Author's Note**: Just a reminder that I'm writing this as part of my NaNoWriMo assignment. There may be glaring mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me.

* * *

"Sophie! Is everything okay?" Pepper studied her daughter's face as best she could on the relatively small Starkpad's screen.

Pulling a face, Sophie shook her head. "Mo-om. I don't just call when something's wrong."

"Anymore."

"Well! That means you agree that my habits have changed."

Pepper chuffed, but it was obvious she wasn't really annoyed. "More or less."

Sophie grinned.

"So, my dear, sweet child, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I have a question."

"Ha!"

"Mo-om!"

Pepper smiled broadly at her daughter. "Just tell me, Sof."

Huffing, she crossed her arms over her chest. "This is so not going the way I thought it would."

Pepper's smile widened. "Tell me, sweetheart."

"Well, it's like this. Minnette... You remember Minnette, right?"

"Of course I remember Min! I love, Min."

"So glad you said that!" Sophie clasped her hands together. "Can Min please come home with us for Christmas! She can't afford to go home to Merida this year..." At her mother's questioning expression, she said, "That's in Mexico, all the way at the other end. Um, Yucatan Peninsula if I remember right. Good sized city."

Pepper nodded and Sophie continued, "Anyway most of our close friends are non-New Yorkers like us, who are going home for the hols and the couple of New Yorkers I know she knows aren't, like, close or anything and I'd just _hate_ for her to _have _to spend the holidays with people she only sort of knows just so she can have a place to stay and I don't _want_ Min to go any-"

"Breathe, sweetheart," Pepper said, holding out her hands. "You do remember how to do that, right?"

Sophie grinned. "Sure."

"I was beginning to wonder. And of course Min can come with us. You did tell her that home is Iowa, right?"

Sophie nodded, a frown marring her happiness. "Do you think Grandma and Grandpa will be okay?"

"You mean with you bringing a friend home?"

"A non-whitebread America friend home."

Smiling indulgently, Pepper said, "They'll be fine. Your grandparents were never much for racism. Sexism, yes, but not racism. Min will be fine, so long as she doesn't mind helping in the kitchen."

"Minnette's an awesome cook."

"You know your grandmother won't let anyone else cook in her kitchen. Especially not for the holidays."

Sophie chuckled. "Well, then Steve should be a piece of cake."

"Wait, I'm sorry, did you say 'Steve'? Did Min want to bring a boyfriend with her?"

Sophie's eyebrows climbed. "Min's not dating anyone. Not here, at least. Which is another issue," she said, frowning again. "Min's going to miss her boyfriend when he goes home. He's studying at a university in Texas."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But if Steve's not Min's boyfriend, who is he? Sophie Hélène, is this your roundabout way of telling me you're seeing someone?"

"What? No. It's just Steve, Mom. You know, _Steve_?"

"No, I don't know _Steve_."

"He lives on the thirty-second floor?"

"Of?"

"Stark Towers." Sophie colored.

Pepper paled. "Steve Rogers?"

"Yeah, it's his first Christmas after the Avenger's Initiative and he kinda has no place to go, and I was pretty sure the grandparents wouldn't object to a handsome, All-American hero-"

"Did you just call Steve 'handsome'?"

"Mom, he made People's Sexiest Man Alive."

"Yeah, Tony was not amused," Pepper muttered.

Ignoring her, and the remembered rant that had inspired the comment, Sophie said, "I didn't ask about Steve because, y'know, I didn't think a handsome, well-mannered white guy at the Christmas feast would make any waves. If he weren't famous, I'm not even sure anyone would notice. They'd just figure it was one of cousin Janna's new six-month boyfriends."

Pepper snorted. "You make a good point. So...this isn't you trying to tell me something."

"Other than we need to set out two extra plates for dinner? No." Sophie's eyes narrowed. "Why, do you know something?"

"No! No. It's just...unexpected is all."

Sophie shrugged. "Everyone should have a home to go to for Christmas. And until he and Mr. Stark things worked out I figured I'd offer ours."

Pepper reached out as if she would touch her daughter's cheek. "You always were my sweet girl."

"Oh, Mom." Sophie colored. Pressing her hands to her cheeks, she said, "And think of it this way, now we know at least two other people we can talk to without wanting to commit violence against ourselves and others."

Pepper nodded. "That's actually a very good point. I'll let Grandma know we're bringing guests. Oh! You know what?"

"What?"

"This means we have an excuse to sleep at a hotel. There won't be enough room to put all of us up, and we can't in good conscience leave Min and Steve on their own in a hotel."

Sophie beamed. "I love it when you're devious, Mom."

"I try. Don't tell Tony I said that."

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: This is one of the stories that popped up after I knew I was going to actually write the scenes floating around in my head. It's also one of the two actual story arcs in this otherwise loosely connected series.


	4. Hold Me Together (IM3)

******Title**: Hold Me Together ("Anchor" prequel)**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-IM3  
******Characters**: Pepper Potts, OC**  
****Rating**: PG**  
****Summary**: Sophie calls the one person who has the answers she needs.  
******Length**: ~260 words**  
****Spoiler**: IM3**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1**  
****Author's Note**: Just a reminder that I'm writing this as part of my NaNoWriMo assignment. There may be glaring mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me.

* * *

_"Sophie, I was—"_

"Captain Rhodes, where is my mom? Where is my- Where's Mr. Stark?"

_"We're looking for them. I swear we have every resource at our disposal—"_

"What about the Avengers?"

_"You know as well as I do that SHIELD isn't going to assemble the Avengers for a kidnapping."_

"This is more than a kidnapping! It's a terrorist!"

_"I'm sorry to say this, Sof, but terrorists are business as usual these days."_

"It's my mom! And your best friend!"

_"Who put himself at risk."_

"And my mom…"

_"Sof…Sophie, please don't cry."_

"I'm not. I'm not crying. I'm just…breathing. Noisily."

_"We'll find them. I give you my word. And Tony has this uncanny knack for popping up when shi—stuff gets really bad."_

"I know. I know. Can I do anything to help?"

_"Stay out of trouble."_

"It's New York. I can't promise."

_"I'm serious, Sophie. Give me one less thing to worry about, okay, kid?"_

"…Okay. And you'll tell me the minute you find them."

_"You'll be the first person I call."_

"Even before your CO?"

_"Don't push it."_

"My mom is Pepper Potts. I was born negotiating."

_"I'll see what I can do."_

"Thank you, Rhodey."

_"Of course, Sof. You know that I was going to call you, right? I wouldn't leave you out there hanging."_

"I know."

_"Okay. Now try to...I don't know...not pull your hair out."_

"I'll try. Thanks. Again."

_"We'll find them. Don't worry."_

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: This is another scene that had been floating around for a while, although a bit amorphously, when I was writing "Where You Lead".


	5. Quiet (pre-IM)

******Title**: Quiet**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: pre-IM  
******Characters**: Pepper Potts, OC**  
****Rating**: G**  
****Summary**: When Virginia Potts' parents refuse to watch their five year old granddaughter for the day, she has no idea how she's going to manage her college classes and her five year old.  
******Length**: ~1840 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** This is the other story that's part of an actual arc. The other is "BFF's".

* * *

Close to tears, Virginia Potts paced her parents' kitchen, trying to figure out what to do. There was no one left to call. All of her usual babysitters were high school girls—they were all in class. Her parents had flat out refused already, and where her mom went Aunt Augusta was sure to follow. Not that she wanted little Sophie with her aunt anyway, she reminded herself. Her parents had their faults—not least of which was allowing Sophie to call her grandmother "Mom" and her own mother by her first name—but Aunt Augusta had a spiteful, mean streak that Virginia hoped her daughter never picked up, or became the victim of. She'd rather go by her daughter's name for her, "Virginié", for the rest of her life.

As if on cue, Sophie piped up from her perch on the high telephone chair, "What's wrong, Virginié?"

"Nothing, sweetheart." Pepper smoothed the hair framing her daughter's face and cupped her tiny face in her hands. "Nothing at all. Mommy just has to find someone to keep you while she goes to class."

"Grammie and Grampie don't want to do it?"

They didn't, but Virginia had long ago sworn not to come between her daughter and her parents. They adored her and she adored them in return. That Virginia was often a casualty seemed to be a small price to pay for food, shelter and willing caretakers. Until today.

"It's not that they don't want to," she said, "but they can't do it today."

"What about..." Sophie rattled off a laundry list of her usual babysitters, precisely and at speed, hardly seeming to take a breath as she did.

"All the girls you like are in school right now, sweetie. Their holiday schedule is different than yours in kindergarten."

"Oh. What about..." And she rattled off the names of local family members who had watched her for a few hours here and there.

"I tried them all and they're all busy."

"Then why can't I come with _you_ to school, Virginié?"

"Oh, sweetie." Virginia swept her daughter out of the tall chair to perch on it herself, Sophie in her arms. "College is different than kindergarten. There's no toys to play with and no other children. It would just be you by yourself."

Sophie whipped around to stare up at her mother, her dark eyes wide with shock and fear. "You will leave me by myself?"

"No! No, I would never leave you!" Virginia chuckled in spite of her daughter's fear, the idea that she would abandon her precious baby so absurd as to be laughable. She pulled Sophie close, tucking her under her chin. "I meant that there wouldn't be anyone your age to play with. And even though I would be with you every moment, I would be very busy learning and I wouldn't be able to play with you either."

Sophie was quiet for a moment, then she said, "I could read my books. And I could draw. And color. That's all quiet stuff."

Nodding, Virginia agreed with her. "But it would be a long day for you, Sophie. And you wouldn't be able to talk while I'm in class learning."

"Not anything?"

"Not unless it was an emergency."

"Like a bathroom emergency?"

"Uh huh."

"Okay. Let's go to school!" Sophie hopped off her mother's lap. She turned and grabbed used both hands to grab her mother's larger one. "C'mon, Virginié, come _on_. We're going to be late, late, late!"

Dazed by this sudden turn, Virginia allowed herself to be led out of the kitchen by her five-year-old.

* * *

Crouching down so that she closer to eye-level with her daughter, Virginia Potts smoothed the girl's shining auburn bangs over her forehead. "You remember what Mommy said, right?"

"No talking unless it's an emergency. Like bathroom emergency. But I should tell you before a class starts, even it only means I have to try so there won't be an emergency."

"...Yes, I think that's it. But you can draw all you want, and look at your picture books and play with Miss Molly so long as you do it quietly, okay?"

"Okay, Virginié."

As much as it hurt Virginia every time her daughter called her _grandmother_ "Mom", she was touched that the little girl had come up with her own name for her. At home it was either Virginia or Ginny (and that one Great-Uncle who liked to call her Vera). Virginié was probably an amalgamation of both, and not the result of careful research into the French version of her name, but Virginia loved it anyway. It was Sophie's name for her, and since it seemed she was never going to call her 'Mom' it held a lot of weight for her.

She hugged her daughter tight. "That's my big girl. Come on, you, let's go get smart."

* * *

Virginia had to hand it to her, except for one incident after lunch when neither of them had been paying attention to Sophie's liquid intake, and thus prompting the use of the emergency bathroom request—done in a stage whisper of course—Sophie had been quiet as a church mouse on Sunday for every class. Between classes she chattered about everything: what she had observed in class, the drawings that she'd made, the pirates Peter Pan had defeated, why no one had made the people who had written on the walls clean it off yet, and more on seemingly endless topics. Since she'd started college, spending whole days with her daughter was a rare and precious thing. Virginia didn't mind the chatter at all. The only downside was that she'd elected to sit in the back corner of every classroom, the better to minimize Sophie being seen, especially if she suddenly forget and decided to start waving her paper around. It never happened, but Virginia had long ago learned to never underestimate a child—especially not her own.

Their last class behind them, Virginia and Sophie sat under a tree, eating the last of the snacks she'd packed and sharing a can of soda between them. "Did you have a good day?"

Sophie nodded emphatically. "Can I come to school with you again?"

"Depending on what you grandparents have to say when they get home, you may have to."

Sophie pushed up onto her knees, swaying to music only she heard as she pumped her bag of animal crackers in the air. "I go to school...with Virginié! Yeah, I go to school...Virginié!"

Virginia chuckled. "Silly girl."

Sophie beamed, plopping herself back on the ground.

"Hey there, Gin!" Virginia turned to see a young man loping toward her and Sophie. She recognized him from her earlier English 2 class. "Or should I say _Virginié_?" He chuckled.

Virginia frowned, wondering how he could have heard Sophie's name for her. Brian sat in an entirely different section—Oh that was right. She'd changed seats for the day. He'd probably heard Sophie call her that before the start of class. She'd been silent otherwise, content to finish up the masterpiece she'd been working on all morning.

Mystery solved, she offered the young man, Brian, a half-smile. "Gin's fine."

"Nah, I like Virginié way better. Totally suits you." He didn't see the way Sophie was scowling. Otherwise he might not have dropped his hand on her head. "And who is _this_? Your mom making you babysit for your kid sister? Doesn't she know you have class?"

"Actually—"

"Actually!" Sophie wiggled out from under Brian's, completely harmless, hand. She moved to Virginia's side, nearly sitting in her lap. "She's my mom. And you shouldn't call her Virginié because that's not her name. Right, Mom?"

"Virginié is Sophie's name for me, so I guess she gets to make the rules." She turned to Sophie. "Only on this one, though."

"Yes, Mom."

When she looked up, Brian's cheeks were flushed and his eyes were wide. "Mom. As in you're a mom. And this is your daughter?"

Virginia nodded serenely. This was hardly the first time she'd encountered this sort of reaction.

"Wow. That's...wow. Wow. I... Congratulations?"

Virginia laughed. "A little late, but I'll take them." Smiling, she waved Brian off. "I'll see you on campus tomorrow?"

"You bet." Double-snapping, her pointed to the two Miss Potts. "You two beautiful ladies stay cool."

Virginia was still shaking her head when he left. Sophie's insistent tugging on her shirt brought her back. "What is it, sweetling?"

"Who was that?"

"Oh, someone I go to class with. We all sat together earlier."

Sophie flopped back against her mother. "Really?" Clearly some of her afternoon joy had deflated.

"Mmhmm."

"But why did he think I was your _sister_? That's yuck! Yuck, yuck, yuck!"

"Well..." Should she push this? Why not. The worst that could happen was that nothing changed at all. "..it's unusual for children to call their parents by their first name."

"I know."

"And he heard you calling me Virginié, and me answering, so it would have made sense to him that you were my baby sister using my first name, and not my daughter."

Sophie was silent for a while, biting heads off animal crackers before stuffing them back into their box. Then she said, "Don't you like it when I call you Virginié?"

"Sure. It's your special name for me that no one else uses. But..." She wrapped her arms around Sophie much as she had that morning. "...but I also feel sad when you call Grammie 'Mom' instead of me."

Sophie twisted to look up at her. "But it's just a game. Because, you know, when we go out everything thinks Grammie's my mom and your my...sister..." Her eyebrows and lips pulled together as she worked through what she was about to say and what all had already been said. She faced forward again. "But you're my mom."

Shrugging, Virginia said, "No one's going to knows that unless you tell them."

"I can't—I can't...tell...every—" Sophie twisted to look up at her mother. "Is calling you 'Mom' like telling everyone that you're my mom and I love you very much?"

Virginia nodded, afraid that if she tried to talk she'd start crying.

"Because you're my favorite Mommy. I tell all the other kids that all the time. _They_ know that you're my mom and not Grammie."

"That's a start."

"Everyone else should know, though." She turned to face forward again. "People are so stupid. Why can't they just look and tell!"

"Nuh uh. People are not all stupid. But most people don't have time to get to know us to find out...that you and Grammie are playing a game. Besides, that's not a nice thing to say."

"It's not a very fun game if they don't get the joke."

"Not at all."

"Okay!"

Brows raised, it was now Virginia twisting to see her daughter's expression. "Okay what?"

"So now you're my Mom and Grammie's Grammie and Virginié will have to wait until people aren't so-" Spotting her mother's deep frown, she cut herself off "Um, get smarter."

Virginia hugged her daughter tightly.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: I don't know when I wanted to write this one, but the idea's been floating around in the back of my mind for a while. I guess it's one of the stories about Pep and Sof that I know as the author of their story together. (I also happen to know the background story with Rolfe and them being "his girls", but that's for another time.)


	6. Quiet 2 (post-IM2)

******Title**: Quiet (part 2)**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-IM2  
******Characters**: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, OCs**  
****Rating**: G**  
****Summary**: Now that he knows about her, Tony wants to show off a little to Pepper's daughter. All he has to do is find her.  
******Length**: ~700 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** second in the Quiet arc. There is at least one more story, already written, possibly two. Chronologically, this takes place the next day after the "Where You Lead" trilogy.

* * *

"Hey, Pep."

Both Pepper and her assistant looked up from the spreadsheet she was marking, surprised to see Tony not five feet away from her desk. Though his tone had been friendly before, he was frowning now. "That's not actual paper, is it?"

Pepper looked up into her assistant's face. "Take a break. Come back in ten. Okay, Cole?"

The woman—average height, nicely stacked, with truly fabulous blond hair and green eyes—nodded at her boss. "Sure thing, Potts. Anything I can get for you?"

"You can check with Sophie, but I'm okay."

Nodding, the woman neatly folded the spreadsheet back into a folder. A blackberry appeared almost magically in her hands an instant later. Tony gave her an appreciative once-over out of habit. "Cole."

"Mrs. Coler to you, Mr. Stark," she said without looking up or pausing. The door closed with a soft click seconds later.

Tony gestured towards it. "Should I have known that?"

"Theoretically, yes, since you sent her a very nice gift for her wedding three years ago."

"Huh."

"And she was in the running to be your new assistant before your met 'Natalie from Legal'." Pepper smiled, close-lipped.

"Oh."

"Mmhmm. So. What can I do for you, Tony? I'm surprised to see you here."

Tony cleared his throat. "I have a meeting with people I like for once. Mostly like, for the most part."

Pepper's eyebrows rose. "Sanford and Persaud are here?"

"Yup. Gonna get my geek on."

Pepper's smile grew even as she shook her head. "Well you have fun. Please try not to blow up Lab 3 again."

"Don't worry." Tony rubbed his hands together. "We have our sights set on Lab 25."

"Aquatics?"

Frowning, Tony said, "How do you keep all these things straight?"

"You aren't always an easy man to find, Mr. Stark, especially when you program JARVIS against me."

"One time, Pep. It was one time—" At her raised eyebrow, he added, "—in the last three months."

"Uh huh. Have fun."

"Thank you, Ms. Potts, I will." He turned to leave her office.

She turned back to her computer screen, about to send Cole a message that she was free when Tony suddenly spoke from the door, the handle already turned. "Hey, you wouldn't happened to have brought Sophie with you? Or did you leave her home."

Pepper's brow furrowed. "She's here. Why?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. But if she wants to wander down to 25 and play in the water with the other geeks that would probably be cool."

Pepper gave him a strange look then smiled. "Sure. I'll let her know. Are you going to be there—"

"All day. You know how it is once you get in the water."

"Um, sure I do. I'll pass the message on to Sophie."

"Thanks, Pep!" He pushed the door open and disappeared.

Pepper abandoned her email to Cole and picked up her blackberry instead. She shot off a quick text to Sophie.

Across the room a smaller, earlier-model blackberry buzzed and danced on the arm of a small, white leather sofa. Startled by the movement, Sophie looked up from her laptop. She glanced at the display and then at her mother. "Mr. Stark was here?"

"He just left." Laughter colored Pepper's voice.

"Really? I guess he didn't see me."

"And you didn't see him."

Sophie pinked. "Okay, maybe you have a point. So should I go?"

"If you want. I can promise that it'll be an experience. I don't know if you'll be able to keep up with the technical aspect of everything Tony does, but if he's inviting you that means he thinks you'll probably enjoy the practical application."

"Was that a really long-winded way of saying I'll have fun?"

Pepper laughed outright. "Yes. I think you'll have fun."

Sophie stood. "Then I think I'll go find…" She glanced down at her blackberry. "…Lab 25. Thanks, Mom."

"Be good," Pepper said, her eyes back on her computer screen.

"Aren't I always?"

Pepper looked up, eyebrows quirking. "If you hurry you just might catch him before I have to fire Cole for assault."

Grinning, Sophie slipped out the door.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2: **This has been floating around in my head possibly as long as the first Quiet story. It always followed Quiet part 1, so much so that I thought of posting them together b/c, in my head, that's how they should be read.


	7. BFF's 2 (post-Avengers)

******Title**: BFF's (part 2)**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-IM2  
******Characters**: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, OCs**  
****Rating**: G**  
****Summary**: Was this what it was like for her mom? Had there been anyone to interpret her half-sobbed words? Sophie's angry at the wrong person for all the right reasons.  
******Length**: ~1,500 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** second in the BFF's arc. There is at least one more story, and another is planned. Also, and this is important, I apologize now for butchering the Spanish. I have more than enough Spanish friends that I could have gotten a human translation, but I ended up relying on Bing. I am so sorry, _mi gente_.

* * *

Pepper snagged her daughter's hand as she rushed past. "Sophie, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. Something's up with Minnette. She got a text and ran out."

"What do you mean 'ran out'?"

"Like, out of the living room with me, Steve and all the family in it towards the door, out."

"It's winter in Iowa! The temperature's in the single digits out there!"

"I _know_ Mom. That's why I'm trying to grab her." She slipped her mother's grip, but she hadn't gone more than a step when Steve went barreling past her.

"She left her coat in the living room!" he called over his shoulder.

Sophie and Pepper swore, Sophie covering her mouth in embarrassment right after as she tore after Steve. He was stopped at the front closet. "Are any of these hers?" Sophie asked, sliding on the rag rug in the hall.

Steve snatched one at random. "Doesn't matter." He flew out the door.

Nodding, Sophie did the same and followed. In moments she was grateful for her Uncle Toby's beer belly: his coat was comfortably huge.

Steve's golden skin seemed to glow against the fallen snow and the stark white street lights. Luckily, it had begun snowing late and no one in the neighborhood had yet ventured outside. The only tracks in the light snowfall were from squirrels and other small animals…and a young woman moving in a hurry.

Although physically fit, Sophie quickly lost ground to Steve. Soon she was thanking God for the snow for her own sake. She followed his tracks as easily as they'd been following Min's. After a minute she knew where they were headed and didn't need to pay such close attention. She fished her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans as she walked, knowing that her mother wouldn't be far from her own.

Her mom picked up on the first ring. _"Did you find her?"_

"Steve probably has her by now, because wow is he fast."

"_Where are you?"_

"The park on the green. She's gotta be in the playground. I just know it. I'm guessing swings."

"_Well please stop guessing and try to get her back here as soon as possible. She must be freezing."_

"Yes, Mom. We'll see you in a bit." Steve and Min came into view as she hung up. Sighing heavily, she whispered a prayer of thanks and dashed forward with a burst of speed.

Steve had Minnette bundled into a borrowed coat—Sophie thought it was his but couldn't be sure in the odd shadows created by the street lights surrounding the park—and was trying to coax her off the swings. Instead she was sobbing into Steve's chest, or rather his upper abdomen. A moment of envy washed over Sophie at the sight, then she kicked herself. Min was a very sensible person, not at all prone to dramatic displays. It wasn't like her to run out of a group setting into freezing weather without a word to anyone, let alone a coat. Something had happened to upset her. Now was not the time to wish she, Sophie, was the one crying her eyes out on a hot guy instead of her friend.

"How's your Spanish?" Steve said when Sophie was in earshot.

"Huh?"

He glanced down at Min, clutching at his flannel shirt. "She tried to tell me what happened but she's so upset she keeps reverting back to Spanish. I only know a little German and French."

A wave of sympathy washed over Sophie as she approached her friend. She went down on her knees in the grass and snow so that Min wouldn't have to move much to talk to her. Reaching up, she gently turned Min's face towards her, wiping away the tear tracks. "Honey, what happened. Can you tell me?"

The story came in starts and stops, in a mix of broken English and teary Spanish that Sophie had to work at understanding. She thanked God that Min had been supplementing the little Spanish she remembered from high school and her old neighborhood. After too many minutes kneeling in the cold and one ignored text, Sophie was pretty sure she had most of the story.

"Her sister saw her boyfriend with another woman, back home in Rancho Cucamonga?"

Min nodded against Steve. Who frowned. "That's in Mexico?

"California, actually."

"This is the guy studying in Texas?" he said.

"Uh huh."

"Shouldn't he be in Mexico? In…in…"

"Merida," Min said, providing the name of the city where she lived.

Sophie nodded. "That's him. And that's where he should have been. Their families know each other so Cosette, her sister, knows it wasn't another family member. And..." Sophie glanced up at Min. "And they were way too cozy to be family, otherwise this story is even more wrong than what we thought."

Min laughed a little at that, at the snide way Sophie had said it, but her face crumpled in misery the moment her laughter died. Sophie reached up to take her hand. So cold. She looked up at Steve. "She got a text from her sister while we were all sitting around."

Frowning, Steve said, "That's pretty bad, but I don't know if that's worth running out into the cold for." Directing his attention to Min, he gently squeezed her in a one-armed hug. "No fellow is worth it."

Sophie took a deep, very cold, breath. "They were engaged. Recently," she added as Steve's eyes narrowed. She could see that he wanted to swear and was holding back, probably on their account. "Not too many people know. Cosette doesn't know."

"Your sister?" he asked Min.

She shook her head. "We don't get on. Telling her would have made her more jealous _desde entonces ella ha estado saliendo con su novio durante cinco años._"

When Steve looked at Sophie for help, she screwed her eyes closed to help with her mental translation. "Um, Cosette's been seeing her guy for five years. I guess without a ring."

Miserable and eyes filling, Min nodded. _"Ella probablemente habría llamado si ella sabía sobre el compromiso."_

"Min thinks she would have called to rub it in if Cosette knew about the engagement."

Steve looked appalled. "Oh God...I'm so sorry, Minnette."

A fresh wave of tears overtook her, but they weren't as fierce as before. She was tired and probably half-frozen. Slowly and painfully, Sophie got to her feet, eyes on Steve. "We have to get her back to the house before Mom sends all the boy-cousins out looking for us. I'm pretty sure that was her text I ignored. I told her we'd be back in a jiff the last time I spoke to her."

"I take it this is not a jiff?" Steve said, as he finally got Min out of the swing. He clutched her tightly to his side.

Sophie sighed, miserable. "Not even close." Taking Min's available hand in her own as they walked back, she was almost ashamed to realize that the anger and hurt she felt wasn't for Min, not really, but for her mother. She knew her mom's story, how she and her father had been childhood sweethearts, expected by everyone to marry and pop out lots of kids. Then they—_they_—had gotten pregnant and _he_ had ditched her long before the alter to deal with the fallout on her own.

Was this how her mother had felt? Had she run out of the house when she got the news? Did her father even have the guts to tell her himself or, like Fernando, Min's fiance, had she found out in a roundabout way? Eventually her mother had picked up the pieces and moved on, so far on, but Sophie imagined that for a while she'd been like Min: blindsided and heartbroken. And it had been the late 80s. Had there been friends to cry on? Who had translated her half-sobbed words? Or had she cried alone?

Sophie swiped an angry tear from her face, then reached across and more gently cleared Min's eyes. "I swear you can get through this, hon." She squeezed her friend's hand. "I swear."

Steve gave her another quick squeeze. "She's right."

Min nodded weakly, but the her face said that she didn't believe them. Sophie sighed again, still angry, still not at the right person. It wasn't fair.

"It's not fair," Steve said as if in reply. She must have spoken out loud.

"Can..." Min sniffed, seeming to feel the cold for the first time. "Can we go back to the hotel? I don't...I don't know if I c-c-can..." She dissolved into soft tears.

"Of course," Steve said, Sophie nodding emphatically. "Of course."

Sophie squeezed Min's hand. "We'll tell my mom, grab something hot to drink for the ride back and go, okay?"

Min nodded. "Thank you."

"Oh, honey!" Sophie engulfed her in the best hug she could manage while trudging through dead grass, ice and snow.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: Poor Min suffered for my inspiration. When this arc was first conceived she was in a happy relationship (not sure if she was affianced) then I had An Idea and her wedding plans went down the tube. Hopefully that 4th story gets written, otherwise she went through this for naught.


	8. BFF's 3 (post-Avengers)

******Title**: BFF's (3/4)**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-IM2  
******Characters**: Tony Stark, OC's, Steve Rogers**  
****Rating**: G**  
****Summary**: Tony wants to know what Sophie's doing with the stuff in her arms. Also, he'd really appreciate it if she'd stop hitting him when he says her friend is hot. Because she is. That's so not his fault.  
******Length**: ~1,260 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** third in the BFF's arc. This is the next to last story. As you can see I was a on a bit of a roll when I started these.  
**AN2**: Sorry for the poor story tagging in chapter 7. I wasn't paying attention.

* * *

Tony looked up from his starkpad and frowned. Deeply. "Um, Sophie what is this?" He gestured to her get-up.

Eyes wide, she looked down at herself. "Um, pj's?"

"No, no...I know what your pj's look like, and by the way I prefer the poodles in Paris to the lambs jumping over clouds, I meant those things." Tony pointed at her again.

"Um, my puppy slippers?"

_"No—"_

"Well, then, dude, learn to point better or get over here and show me!"

Huffing, Tony levered himself from his chair and sauntered over. He poked a finger at the items clutched to her chest. "That."

Sophie colored. "Oh. _That_...these. Whatever! Um, they're kinda for karaoke?"

Tony's face fell. "You're having karaoke and you didn't invite me?"

Cheeks still pink, she tried to wave her hands in a placating gesture but quickly stopped as the CD's, microphones and bags of unpopped microwave popcorn began to slip. "It's not like that. It's just me and my friends from the department and Steve, although anyone in the Tower is welcome to drop in. And, okay, by friends from the department I mostly mean Minnette. You remember Minnette, right?"

"Of course I remember Min. Your mom loves Min. I think she's smoking hot—Ow!" He rubbed his bicep where Sophie had managed to hit him, despite the things in her arms. "And every time I say that one of your tries to hurt me."

"Mr. Stark!"

"It's the truth! Both the smoking hot and the pain." He quickly held his hands up. "Don't hit me!"

"She's over ten years younger than you are!"

Tony snorted. "Like that's ever stopped me before."

"And brokenhearted."

"Even better."

"And you're _dating my mom!_"

"Which I keep thinking you two _would remember_ and _stop hitting me_!"

Sophie's lips twitched with words she couldn't say, especially since he had a point. Tony had never made it a secret that he liked women in general and beautiful women in particular, but he'd been scrupulously faithful to her mother since they'd started a serious relationship. He was an incorrigible flirt, yes, but he never took it too far, and he flat out ignored any woman who thought it was more than that.

She hated it when he had a point. "Fine," Sophie said with bad grace. "But Min is still hurting from what her ex did to her. No flirting with the Min!"

"So you brought a guy over," Tony said, tone flat.

"Huh?"

"You mentioned some guy named Steve."

Sophie frowned. "What do you mean 'some guy named Steve'? I invited Steve."

"You're dating somebody named Steve. And you didn't tell me? Does your mother know this? And _she_ didn't tell me? JARVIS!"

_"Yes, sir."_

"Don't tell me you knew-"

"Mr. Stark!" Sophie cried. "I'm not dating anyone named Steve! It's just Steve. You know, _Steve_."

"No, I don't know _Steve_ but give me five minutes and I will."

Sophie banged her head on the nearest solid object—Tony's shoulder. "He lives on the thirty-second floor?"

"Where? Here? There was only one person on the thirty-second... "You're dating Rogers?!"

Sophie looked up to the ceiling. "Why God? They're both such smart people, normally." Then looking at Tony, she said, "No. I invited him over to karaoke. He needs friends his own age and Min needs to be with people who aren't going to walk on eggshells around her. I had invited a few others that I know are solid, but they couldn't make it."

"So you're not dating Rogers."

She glared at him.

Tony grinned. "Sorry, couldn't help it." He patted her shoulder. "You crazy kids have fun. Maybe I'll—What do you mean Rogers needs to make friends his own age? Not that I'm against putting him up in a retirement home."

"I know he was born over eighty years ago, but he's been in suspended animation for most of that time. He's still a guy in his twenties, and most of the Avengers are-"

"Don't you dare say it."

Now Sophie grinned. "-old."

He made as if to tickle her, but she danced out of reach. "I'm telling your mother that you called her decrepit."

"I did not!"

"Uh, that's kinda the way I heard it."

Sophie stuck her tongue out at Tony. "My point is, he may have old fashioned values but he's actually a young guy. He should be doing young guy things with young people, not just work out and strategize all the time."

"Things like karaoke."

"Like karaoke!"

Tony shook his head. "Well good luck with that, kid. I'm sure JARVIS can find something from the 40s that the Captain will like."

Sophie shrugged. "We'll see." She tilted her chin up, rising on tip-toe. "Min's staying over and it's probably going to be a late night, so in case we miss you..."

"I'll probably be up, but sure." Tony leaned forward and down just enough for Sophie to buss his cheek. "Night, kid."

"Night, Mr. Stark."

* * *

As predicted, Tony was still up and going strong several hours later. When Pepper was home she could, and did, convince him to sleep at more or less regular hours. Sophie could do it as well, albeit with a lot more cajoling and guilt-tripping than her mother, but she didn't spend much of her time in the Tower. She preferred the tiny apartment uptown where she'd been living since she'd been able to abandon campus housing as an undergrad. It didn't surprise Tony at all to find that stubbornness was a hereditary Potts trait.

But he hadn't seen Sof. Hmm.

Since his bladder decided that, yes, it did need to be relieved of those three large cups of coffee if he wanted to keep working in peace, Tony decided that he might as well go down to the guest floor and check in on the "kids."

Ha. Rogers a kid. He was born with that stick shoved up his-

Tony frowned as the elevator began to slow. He was pretty sure that was music coming through the doors—music that he knew. "JARVIS, what song are Josie and Pussycats playing in there?"

_"The Black Keys' _'Lonely Boy_', sir."_

"That's...that's kind of what I thought you'd say." The elevator opened onto a generic foyer, separated from the great room by two free-standing walls with large, geometric cut-outs. Although it was the guest floor, this was where Sophie stayed when she came over even when she spent most of her free time upstairs with either Pepper or Tony. She and her mother had a strange relationship. Both pretended that they were happily independent of each other when it was obvious to Tony, and everyone else, that they were happiest when they were being thick as thieves. Oh well. He'd made the space, it was up to them to be all goofy about it.

Not that he was thinking about the tangled parent-child relationships swirling around him. Oh no. No Tony was drawn to the cut-outs on the wall...and what was going on beyond the cut-outs.

Dressed in a parody of Army regulars, Rogers was crooning into a cordless mike while Min and Sophie, in their sleepwear goofiest, shook, shimmied...and did the monkey? behind him. Not that they were singing for anyone except the television feeding them their lines. He hoped. When the chorus came on, the girls joined Rogers, belting out the lyrics rushing by on the screen.

Tony scrubbed his face. He couldn't be sure if the world was ending or if he was sleep deprived. At least one of the two was an easy fix.

Fin[ite]


	9. Quiet 3 (post-Avengers)

******Title**: Quiet (3/3)**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-Avengers  
******Characters**: Bruce Banner, OC **  
****Rating**: G**  
****Summary**: Bruce is exactly the company she's looking for  
******Length**: ~290 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** third and last (I think) in the Quiet arc. Again, I kinda got on an idea-roll with these, but I think this well is dry.

* * *

Bruce had no idea how long he'd been working before he realized Pepper's daughter, Sophie, was in the lab with him. It had to have been hours, at least. When he finally saw her, it was with her head bowed over a starkpad and surrounded by numerous papers. She was worrying a mechanical pencil with her teeth, muttering soundlessly. As he watched, she seemed to start an argument with herself, also silent. He recognized the hand movements, though. They were what had caught his attention.

Then he noticed the cups of coffee. He presumed they were coffee. Or hot dark chocolate. There were four, no five of them. Bruce turned and glanced at the cups sitting near to hand at his workstation. Five.

"Hey," he said softly. Her head jerked up and she smiled. "How long have you been there."

She shrugged. "A while, I guess." Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, she flushed. "I should probably use the facilities."

Bruce colored, too, mostly because she was Pepper's kid. "So, uh, you brought all that coffee?" he asked as she stood.

"Mmmhmm."

"You could have gone someplace else to work. There are plenty of, y'know, workspaces. Isn't your apartment uptown?"

Sophie nodded as she skirted her papers and him with a few of the empties in hand. "But I needed the company."

"New York City has a robust library system." At the strange look she gave him, Bruce said, "Tony not available?" Pepper, he knew, was at a meeting Singapore.

Swaying on her feet, Sophie shrugged. "Not the company I was looking for." She held up her empty coffee cups. "Want anything?"

Bruce shook his head.

"Oh thank God." Flashing him a friendly smile, she all but potty-danced out of the lab.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2:** I knew for a long time that I wanted to write a scene where (a) Sophie tends to follows Tony or Bruce around for seemingly no particular reason and (b) they don't particularly notice. Both of those worked well with the Quiet arc, so here's where it landed. Sophie likes Bruce lots, but he gives off Don't Touch vibes even more strongly than Tony does.


	10. BFF's 4 (post-Avengers)

******Title**: BFF's (4/4)**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-Avengers  
******Characters**: OC, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Darcy Lewis, Erik Selvig, **  
****Rating**: G**  
****Summary**: Sure she was going to be horribly broke next month, but it's worth it for these moments of happiness with the people she loves.  
******Length**: ~1120 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** fourth and last in the BFF's arc. This well isn't dry, but only because, y'know, they're BFF's. Unfortunately, it's all head-canon.

* * *

Even with her employee discount netting her a serious deal on renting public space in Stark Towers, Sophie knew she'd be paying off this night of fun for _months_ if not a whole year. She'd spent the many hours it had taken her and an entire art department decorating the space with a 40s theme _not_ thinking about how much it was costing her. The art dept and the decorations were probably the cheapest things on her list.

But now, with music from the live band (a cappella!) going, drinks and food flowing, everyone _dancing_, and the photog she'd hired (another student) clicking to his little heart's content, Sophie couldn't be worried. She as having too much fun watching everyone else. While she herself was a terrible dancer—oh em gee, so bad—it seemed that everyone else had been born with wings on their feet. Only Dr. Bruce was staying off the floor as much as she was. As party-thrower she couldn't stay with him all night, but he seemed to be having fun every time she swung by.

And oh the dancers! The party was a 40s theme, so she'd wrangled a dance teacher (couldn't find a student who was available, argh) to give everyone a quick and dirty lesson on swing-dancing. She'd warned against trying some of the more exuberant moves that made swing dancing look like so much fun, but the stuff she'd taught them seemed to be going over just fine. Sophie envied how quickly so many of her friends had caught it so quickly. The only place she was graceful was underwater where fewer people could see her.

The teacher's instructions didn't stop some of the more adventurous from trying fancier moves. Her mom and Tony, for instance. Or, more likely, Tony and her mom. Sophie had no illusions who the risk-taker was in the pair. Still, she'd been thrilled to circle her mouth with her hands and bellow a few "Go Mom!" and "Go Mr. Stark!"s whenever she caught them doing something gravity defying.

Natasha and Clint were no surprise at all, except that they'd come. Sophie had a hard time getting a read on Natasha, knowing only that Tony had a lingering resentment to the woman but that her mother had gotten over it. She was beautiful, she was graceful, she rarely seemed joyous, and she was frighteningly blank when she forgot herself. Sophie had to work hard to fight her natural inclination to make the woman like her. Instead she trusted her mother's assertion that Natasha didn't _dislike_ her and that was probably as much she as could get without a lot more time and personal interaction between them—both of which were unlikely to happen given their lifestyles: marine biology grad student and super-spy.

It made Clint feel like an open book, in comparison. He made so many off-the-wall comments—similar but different from Tony—and put so much physical distance between himself and everyone else in the tower, however, that Sophie wasn't sure she could trust what seemed so obvious. She knew what it was to seem open and while holding everything important close to her chest. She had no idea what to make of the two of them, except to goggle with wide-eyed wonder at the some of the stunts they pulled. There was so much going on that they weren't drawing particular attention to themselves, but still… Sophie found herself muttering "How is that even _possible?_" more than once. They just looked smug.

But the best, the _best_ part of the entire night was Steve. Steve who had been shocked to the roots of his blond hair that all of this had been for _him_. Sure it was a wildly belated birthday present, or a super-early one, and maybe it was just a wild birthday present but…well…

Okay, it wasn't a birthday present at all. Birthdays were a wonderful excuse for throwing parties, and now was a great time to throw one, before her coursework got too crazy, the world lost it's mind and while most of the gang was home. (She could _not_ coordinate with Dr. Jane and Thor to save her life. Darcy, though, seemed to be having a great time with Sophie's classmate Jamal, and Dr. Selvig was enjoying the bar and conversation with some of the undergrad professors Sophie still kept up with.) When he wasn't working or working out, Steve seemed lost and sad. Most of them were too busy with their day jobs to really hang out with him. Plus, he was twenty-something! He should be in grad school or something, with people his own age, not just soldiers and smug billionaires and abnormally calm scientists. Sophie didn't expect the fifty or so people filling the hall to become Steve's new besties overnight. If he made friends with five she'd be over the moon. It was, however, a chance for him to have fun, a fun he didn't have to think about too hard except to wonder where Sophie had found a replica of his Army uniform in his size.

And of course there was Min. If Sophie wasn't mistaken, Steve and Min had been dancing together for thirty minutes at least—the entirety of the last set. She knew that her bff was still deeply hurt by what her ex-fiance had done to her, cheating so openly not long after proposing, but all of her pain seemed to fade around Steve. Sophie wondered how long it would take one or both of them to realize that she'd been throwing them together since the disaster that had been Christmas. She wondered if they'd have finally seen what she was seeing by then.

Maybe they would. Maybe not. Min still loved Fernando, though he'd broken her heart and proved himself to be a real bastard. She'd spent years loving him, after all.

And while for the rest of them it had been eighty years, for Steve it had only been about two since he'd last seen his Peggy. But right now…

For right now everyone was _happy_. Everyone was _smiling_. The only person missing was her Uncle Phil and his cellist. Sure she was going to be horribly broke next month, but this moment, all these moments, were worth it if something good could come out of it.

Leaning against a wall and feeling more than a little satisfied with herself, Sophie was startled when a tall lanky figure stepped in front of her, blocking her view. She looked up and grinned. "Dean! Hi!"

His inky black hair falling into his eyes, he bowed and offered her his hand. "My lady?" When he looked up, he was grinning too.

Sophie threw back her head and laughed. Why not?

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: I think this is technically the first BFF story that was floating around in my head while I was writing Where You Lead. It's morphed somewhat, but the basic ideas (40s theme party, Steve and Min dancing, renting space in Stark Towers) have stayed the same. Actually, this is the reason why Min's love life took such a nosedive. Sorry Min!

Also, I'm almost caught up with myself. I have one more story that's written, another I hope to finish tonight, and two more ideas that are sketched but may never make it out of my head. Plus, y'know, NaNoWriMo is almost over...


	11. Tactile (post-Avengers)

******Title**: Tactile**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-Avengers  
******Characters**: Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, Mentions of Everyone except Loki, OC **  
****Rating**: PG**  
****Summary**:Sophie's willingness to touch and be around others is Pepper's barometer.  
******Length**: ~2,900 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** it's long! And could probably be better served by me taking a step back from it for a week before publishing, but it's one of the last stories I have written for NaNoWriMo so here you guys are. If we're all lucky, I'll come back to it in a while and give it a good round of editing.

* * *

Pepper would be the first to admit that she didn't know what to do with the Avengers team when she first meets them. She is, after all, out of the state when the Battle of Manhattan takes place, and the only members of the team that she knows personally are Tony and Phil. And Natasha, but Pepper's not sure that counts as it had mostly been a lie. The others she's heard of either in passing or in some oblique reference.

Then Phil's dead and she only knows one member of the team personally, and Tony's not always the best indicator of how she, or anyone else, should react to new faces. He's a bit like a child that way. Luckily her own child is more perceptive, sometimes even intentionally.

The first time she meets Natasha and Barton doesn't count. It was at the funeral and everyone is in the grips of their grief, no matter appearances. Sophie is visibly distraught for most of the service and only pulls herself together to cordial at the last minute. Natasha and Barton are as stone-faced as any of the other agents and military personnel. No, Pepper doesn't count that as their first meeting. Sophie meets and sees many people that day whom she already knows and greets them all the same, so it's hardly a fitting test.

The next time she meets them its separately. Sort of.

Sophie and Pepper have taken over most of the massive sofa on the common floor, what will be the guest floor, when Natasha strides in with things of her own. She's been standing at the edge of the living room, surveying the space for over a minute when Pepper notices her. "Oh! Natal—Natasha. I'm sorry. With everything going on, I just-"

Natasha smiles faintly. "It's fine."

"You need room. We can make room for you. Sophie, can you consolidate some of these things?"

"Hmm?" Sophie looks up from her laptop, pulling an earbud from her ear. "Consolidate?" Then she sees Natasha. "Oh! Yeah, of course. Sorry about the sprawl." Clutching the laptop with one arm, she stands and offers Natasha her hand and an embarrassed smile. "Sophie Potts."

"Yes, my daughter," Pepper says, watching the exchange carefully.

Natasha's smile grows warmer, more professional, more Natalie-like. "Yes, I remember. From the funeral," she adds when Sophie gives her a puzzled look.

"Oh. Yes." They shake hands and Sophie withdraws quickly. She gathers her things together and claims a cushion closer to her mother, giving Natasha more than enough room to spread out.

"Thank you."

Her smile pleasant, if a little vacant, Sophie nods and goes back to her work.

Five minutes later, Clint Barton falls out of the ceiling in front of them. Sophie and Pepper scream. Natasha rolls her eyes and smacks his arm hard enough to make him wince. Sophie laughs.

"My partner," Natasha says dourly, "Clint Barton. Clint, you know Pepper. This is her daughter, Sophie. We met her at the funeral. The burial actually."

"Oh, hey. Didn't completely mean to scare you like that?"

"Only a little?" Sophie asks through her smile.

"Eh...something to that effect." He offers her his hand.

Still smiling, she takes it enthusiastically. "I'll try to keep an eye out for shifty tiles."

Then they part and Barton is sitting close to Natasha, speaking friendly but hushed tones. Sophie goes back to ignoring them in spite of the warmth of her interaction with Barton, but Pepper catches her staring at them on occasion, her eyes wide and curious.

Nodding to herself, Pepper pulls out her blackberry and updates her notes.

* * *

Steve is love at first sight.

Pepper's not sure what to do. It's clear to anyone with eyes that, like most of America, her daughter adores Steve Rogers. What's not to like? Tall, good-looking, humble, generous and a self-deprecating humor make him near perfect. Except that he loves someone else.

When nothing seems to come of it, and Sophie proves to be no more than another of Steve's adoring fans—albeit much more circumspect with her admiration when he's around—Pepper relaxes. She sees the hard time Sophie has of it, of course. Her daughter is not only tactile but physically affectionate as well. Cuddles and hugs and physical closeness have always been the indicators of her feelings, but those things were not the norm between friends in Steve's time however. And though Sophie quite obviously likes Steve, there's no reason not to, she respects the social mores he grew up with and his own comfort zone.

Sophie holds her own hands a lot around Steve.

Pepper, however, puts him firmly in the Good Guy list, and as long as Sophie is carefully keeping her distance while still trying to be friend he can stay there...no matter how much Tony rants.

* * *

Pepper can't help but smile when Sophie wanders after Bruce like a besotted puppy. Sophie, she knows, doesn't notice that she's doing it. Pepper isn't sure when her daughter picked up the habit, only that it took years of tripping over her child before she worked up the annoyance to put a stop to it—mostly. That and staring. The staring Sophie mastered. The following...

She, Pepper, isn't sure that Bruce notices. Sometimes it seems like he does, like he's going out of his way to avoid Sof when she's in the Tower. But often enough he and Tony are so wrapped up in what they're doing that neither notice when she slips into their workspace with her messenger bag, some papers and a starkpad. Pepper no longer has time to take care of her resident mad scientists, but she makes Darcy promise to add her daughter to her list of charges—light on the Pop-Tarts.

* * *

"And this is my daughter, Sophie Hélène Potts," Pepper says to Thor and Jane.

"Sophie Hélène! Daughter of Pepper! It is my honor to meet you of whom I have heard so much!" Thor says the first time he's back on Midgard, Earth.

Pepper finds it curious that instead of grinning and blushing, or bouncing on her toes with bubbly glee, or even a broad smile as she basks in the attention, Sophie greets the blond giant of a man with a cordial, but strictly professional, smile and handshake.

"I've heard a lot about you as well, Thor. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Not as up on the nuances of modern greetings, Thor nonetheless picks up on Sophie's vaguely standoffish body language. He doesn't pick her up, as he's done with many of the new people he meets. He doesn't follow up his greeting with extravagant and courtly praises. Instead his mantle of Prince of Asgard seems to fall on him as he bows over Sophie's hand. "And may I introduce my beloved, Dr. Jane Forster."

Stepping forward, Jane immediately takes Sophie's hand, shaking it vigorously and in time with her rapid-fire babble.

Sophie shoots her mother an amused look, but does nothing to stop the handshake nor the babble.

In the end Pepper isn't sure what to do with either Thor or Jane and has to resort to asking her daughter what she thinks of them.

"You want to know what I think?"

Chuckling, Pepper says, "Yes. Why does that sound so strange? You're an excellent judge of character."

"You think so?" Sophie blushes.

"I really do. So what are your thoughts on Thor and Jane?"

Pleased, Sophie takes a moment to gather her thoughts before saying, "They're both fine, I suppose. Dr. Foster is excitable and possibly not completely in touch with reality but, considering the strange world that we live in, that's probably a good thing."

"And Thor?"

"Seems...lighthearted. There's more depth, probably a lot more depth, there than is obvious at first. He looks like a jocko-meathead, y'know?"

Pepper laughs. "Yes, I know. If he weren't a god every football team in America would be itching to recruit him."

"And there's that 'god' thing..."

Pepper had noticed the way Sophie flinched when she said it, and had heard the quote marks her daughter had put around the word. But she, Pepper, is trying to be good about this whole Christian thing even as she reminds herself there are reasons they don't talk about it.

"Beyond the issues arising from my devout monotheism, don't we have proof that Thor and Loki are actually aliens with wildly advanced technology? And that _that's_ why they were worshiped as gods? So, they're reviving an ancient fiction or at least they're not going around correcting people when they get called gods. Plus, way back in the day when they could have outed themselves as not-gods, they didn't. They accepted the worship as their due because we're so-called lesser beings. They could have raised us up, instead they let us lick their feet. I take offense at that." By the end of the speech, Sophie's face is red and splotchy but Pepper isn't sure if its embarrassment—she's pretty sure Sophie didn't realize she'd had all that in her—or anger or some mixture of the two.

"It's just hard to fully trust someone like that, Mom. A benevolent dictator is still a dictator."

"Wow."

Sophie covers her face with her hands. "I know, right!"

There's a beat and then...and then Pepper can't help herself: "Well...honey...what if it turns out your Christian God is like Thor and Loki? A super-advanced alien?"

Smiling, Sophie drops her hands. "Then he's a dirty rotten liar, 'and we are of all men most miserable'. But so far Jesus is the only guy that's never let me down, not even once so I'm pretty good so far."

And if that's not a strange and awkward way to end a conversation, Pepper doesn't know what is.

She notices, however, that although Sophie doesn't welcome Thor with her usual openness, Pepper can see that she makes a point of observing him, listening to and watching him carefully. She's giving him a chance to prove what sort of man, or perhaps dictator, he might be.

Pepper watches, too.

* * *

Meeting the Hulk is an accident. A happily traumatic one.

Pepper hears about it after the fact when Sophie is calm enough to talk again:

There was a field trip to the Brooklyn Aquarium and the Coney Island boardwalk and an invite to Bruce. Disinterest in the boating half of the expedition. Landing on the beach to find Bruce with a promise of exploring the boardwalk.

A man up from the ocean. An attack on Sophie, her classmates, professors...and Bruce.

"And then I don't know, Mom. One minute the water's out to get us—and I do mean us. I got a glimpse of the beach and nothing else was effected though everyone was running. But then Bruce was there, or really the Hulk was there and he's busting through the water and punching out sharks and then he's got this _guy_ who's built and maybe hot, but definitely a lot hotter when he's _not_ trying to kill us, all squished in his arms. And he's being shocked and stuff, but, like, _it doesn't matter at all_, Mom. Nothing could stop him. Until the guy was out cold, _cold_. And then the ocean stopped, and the Hulk just kinda tossed the guy up on the boardwalk at the cops. He kinda destroyed a car, but, seriously? Who cares. And then he was Bruce again. Soft, pink, naked, Bruce..."

Pepper had hugged her daughter as she cried, the fear and tension of the incident finally breaking through her shocked calm.

"We...we...found him...a blanket even though it was wet. And I stayed with him. The others were scared, but it's Bruce, you know? It's Bruce and I stayed with him. I don't know what we would have done without him."

Within an hour of her breakdown and with a cup of tea in hand, Sophie is very much herself again. Until Bruce shows up to apologize for scaring her and her classmates. Then she sets her cup down and launches herself at him, hugging him tightly and crying without care or shame.

"Um, well, that was...that's unexpected."

Like her daughter, Pepper loves Bruce a little more.

* * *

Pepper thinks it's telling that Sophie's interest in Directory Fury and Agent Hill is strictly professional. She always greets them cordially when they happen to cross paths, but she always excuses herself after the formalities are over. Somehow, Pepper thinks they like that.

* * *

Tony is a surprise. Pepper has always thought that he and Sophie would get along, perhaps too well. It's one of the reasons why she kept them apart. Assuming Tony took her young daughter, and at that time there was no guessing what he would or wouldn't take to, Pepper was sure that Sophie would be utterly fascinated with the man. Tony is epitome of charm, even when he's not trying. He's charismatic, and his passion makes others want to be passionate, too. But until Afghanistan there were so many of Tony's passions were the sort of things that became the subject of afterschool specials and trips to the principal's office. Sophie's well-being was and always would be Pepper's first priority (so she thought at the time), and Tony's influence would not be well.

So it was a shock when the pair of the walked into _Rolfe's_, Sophie's arm looped comfortably through Tony's as if it had always been there. Pepper knew it was her daughter's doing—as much as Sophie is physically affectionate is as much as Tony is not—and frowned. "Sophie."

She colored and pulled free of Tony's arm to his confusion. "What? I don't get it."

And, to be honest, Pepper wasn't sure she does either. But when they left and Sophie had to be helped out of the booth, and then helped into the back of Tony's sports car, she had no problem letting him handle her. Sophie liked contact, and she liked most people, but a childhood of catch-as-catch-can affection from her father made her wary of giving her own affections, especially to men. (Pepper is both thrilled and very angry at Kyle for this quirk of their daughter's.) So how her daughter could have "fallen" for Tony so quickly was something of a mystery to Pepper. He wasn't that good. He wasn't even trying!

It wasn't until later, much later when they'd both woken up from a long nap and were trying to find homes for the many vases of flowers Tony had left behind, that Pepper remembered.

"So that's Mr. Tony Stark, huh?" Sophie asked. "What about this one, Mom? Where do you want it?" she said, holding up a small vase with overly tall flowers.

"Um, it can go on my desk after you cut those down. There are scissors in the pen cup."

"Okay." Walking away, Sophie said, "It's weird finally meeting him after hearing all your stories."

"Hmm?"

"You know...all your crazy Tony stories. Other than thinking he'd be taller, I feel like I know him. It's weird."

Pepper stopped messing with the flowers in front of her. The stories. How could she have forgotten the stories? Although Pepper had done her best to be Sophie's mother and not her friend, theirs is a very close relationship. As Sophie grew older and more mature, she had become easier to talk to and share with. There had been many things that she kept from her daughter, but Tony generated stories the way stock in SI made money. There had always been more than enough to share with Sophie. Somehow she hadn't thought about what that would mean for Sophie's perception of him.

"So he's okay?" she called out.

Sophie popped up, a smile on her face. "Totally okay, Mom. I mean it's been a few years and he's mostly stuck with this new leaf. If he'll just get over his commitment phobia I think you two could be awesomely happy."

Ducking her head, Pepper smiled as well.

And now... If Sophie has a tendency of following after Bruce, then she orbits Tony. She touches him all the time. She sits next to him. They gleefully argue over breakfast and in their jammies and in his workshop and via video chat.

And Tony lets her. If she's sitting next to him, he'll put his arm around her. If she's looking over his shoulder, he'll explain what he's working on in terms she understands. He built her a prototype suit for her field work. He's trying to find a sneaky way of subsidizing the early birthday bash Sophie threw for Steve, even though he mostly still hates the Captain's guts. She makes a point of saying goodnight if she stays over in the Tower, and when she stands on tip-toe to buss his cheek he lets her.

Pepper's not sure why Sophie refuses to call him anything but "Mr. Stark" to his face—he's always "Tony" when it's just the two of them—but she was "Virginié" for many long years before she got a "Mom" out of her daughter. There's no mistaking, though, how much Sophie loves him, how much she basks in his attention. This part of her daughter's personality, that craves acceptance, would scare Pepper more if she didn't know how few people warrant this level of Sophie's attention. But she is, and always was, a daddy's girl.

And if Sophie, headstrong and wary, was happy to be Tony's girl, what reason could Pepper ever give for not being his, too?

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: I've been fighting this ending for days, days I tell you! I hope it works. (Days!) Anywho, there's only one story nearly written left. After that, I make no promises. There's a novel I've been neglecting all month and yuletide story whose due date is quickly approaching.


	12. Pedestal for All Our Demons (post-IM3)

******Title**: Pedestal for All Our Demons**  
****Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-IM3  
******Characters**: Tony Stark, OC **  
****Rating**: PG-13**  
****Summary**: Tony is the answer to his daughter's prayers.  
**Warning:** I don't usually do trigger warnings, but there is talk of alcohol abuse in this one.  
******Length**: ~3,980 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** even longer than last time, and also probably better served by having a week of downtime before editing it myself. But here it is. This is the last written story. I have one more that I absolutely intend to write b/c this scene _needed_ to happen, I have 2 more sketched out stories that never got written (they actually got skipped b/c of this guy), and a couple of other floaters that I keep coming back to in my head. That said, I make no promises beyond the next story.

* * *

High in the tower, New York City is a silently glittering jewel. The twinkling lights of buildings add to the closeted atmosphere in the dimly lit apartment. The recessed lighting has been set to low, and if there were candles burning it would have the feeling of something sacred.

Sophie stared at the bottle of single malt on the low coffee table in front of her. _That was probably a mistake_, she thought, meaning the lights, mostly. She knows the bottle is a mistake. Everything about it is wrong. That tumbler on the right? It's a lie. One finger...two...three even is not enough. A _tumbler_ of whiskey is not what she's looking for. Heck, the _bottle_ is a lie.

"Not a complete lie," she whispered, her voice loud over the gentle electric hum of the lights. The truth is she wants to climb into that bottle. The lie is that only one will be enough. Sophie has a pretty good idea how many it would take before she can't see straight, can't keep upright long enough to get herself some more. Ah, but the trick then is to pass out near the cabinet: easy access.

She sat on her hands and tried not to notice how she was leaning forward, even as her hair tickled her bare shoulders. She could hear her friends from her undergrad days. _Loosen up. Live a little. One isn't going to hurt you. So it was a bottle, there's more where that came from._

There was always more where that came from, and that was the problem. No one was expecting to see her, not her friends, not her parents. She'd announced on Tuesday that she was holing herself up on the guest floor for an extended study period so she could focus on a research paper she and her team were working on. It was possible that someone would stop by, but just as likely that they'd all respect her privacy.

_Isn't that why I decided to take a room down her instead of with Mom and Pop? So I could hide my sin. So I could stay Mommy's 'sweet girl'?JARVIS will even help me by announcing all visitors long before the elevator doors open._

_Some Christian I am. Just as bad as everyone else. Worse. Such a hypocrite. What the hell is wrong with Dean anyway, wanting me? Thinking I'm good, like Lou or Janae or any of those other girls at church._

_I'm just what's at the bottom of this bottle and all the other bottles in the cabinet._

"No." Through clenched teeth, she said it again, _"No."_

A feverish blush made her almost as warm as a shot of the single malt would have, but Sophie was too tense, too desperate to even shift her hair out of her face. The hair brushing her cheeks was almost unbearable. She was a live wire. It wouldn't take much to set herself off.

_Just one drink..._

But she knew that she was lying. She knew _this _feeling, though it had been years and years and years.

If only it were one drink. If only it was just enough to get her drunk, or even to pass out. If only...if only...if only she didn't know exactly what her version of forgetful oblivion looked like and felt like. If only her memory didn't like to whitewash the bad, and paint a rosier picture around the blissful numbness that proceeded it. She'd be drinking alone, after all. No one to suffer her wit off its leash. No one to disgust if she threw up. No one to pretend niceness to while she still could and eviscerate later when she couldn't.

She wanted inside that bottle.

She wanted Dean to be there to see it.

_"No!"_ she growled, even as she swayed even closer.

It smelled so good. Why had she opened it? _When_ had she opened it?

She'd heard more than enough sermons on temptation. You were supposed to say a Scripture or call on Jesus. Prayer was the thing in which to snare the imagination of temptation's king. But she couldn't think of anything to say. She couldn't remember anything she'd read. She had _"Oh God..."_ and that was about it for good minute straight. Just Oh GodOh GodOh GodOh God over and over until tremors shook her arms. She _wanted_ even though she knew that when she woke up on Monday she'd _hate_.

"Oh God, you saved me from myself before. If you don't save me now, I don't know what—No, I _do_ know what happens next and I'm scared. Because I want it so bad, God. _Father..._ I know the end is destruction, but I think I want that, too. Oh God..."

* * *

Frowning in contemplation, Tony turned the volumetric model first through the x-axis, then the y.

"JARVIS, which version of the River Mark S are we up to?"

_"Technically, sir, we are at River Mark S7 but the last two models have been designed specifically for ocean and sea exploration. You have dubbed them the Ocean Girl 1 and 2, respectively."_

Tony smiled. Both Pepper and Sophie had rolled their eyes when he named the first ocean-ready suit. _He_ thought it was fitting; they'd been built and designed with Sof in mind, after all. "How old is the Ocean Girl 2?"

_"Less than five months, sir."_

"Excellent. Totally due for an upgrade."

_"Sir, I doubt that Miss Sophie would-"_

"Yeah, speaking of Sof...she's not still up is she?"

JARVIS took a moment before responding. _"Surveillance indicates that she has been in the same position for some time, but heart rate and respiration suggest that she is awake."_

"Even better!" Tony reached out and "stuffed" the volumetric display down into a Starkpad and stood. "Best way to get a nerd to say yes to a nerd-gift? Show them all the fun nerdy things it can do."

Soon the elevator doors were closing in front of him. "Hey, JARVIS, don't announce me when I get downstairs, okay?"

_"But, sir, Miss Sophie had engaged privacy protocols so that she might work on a research paper undisturbed."_

Tony waved the AI off. "I know, I know, but it's the middle of the night and I promise not to stay long. She probably needs a mental break anyway. I know I do. And bonding is important, right?"

_"Of course, sir. I will refrain from announcing your presence."_

"You know, considering I built you I really shouldn't have to bargain."

_"Of course not, sir."_

"Even if I did give Pepper and Sof free reign over your protocols."

_"Understood, sir."_

"Well...so long as you do," Tony said, mollified. The elevator doors opened then, into dim, almost romantic, light. "Oookay." A quick glance down the hall showed that the bedrooms were dark, which meant that Sof had to be in the living room, but why keep it so dark if she was studying? "I can't believe I'm thinking this, but this is really bad for her eyes."

JARVIS wisely kept silent.

Tony slowly approached the geometric cut-outs in the decorative wall separating the great room area from the rest of the apartment as his eyes adjusted. By the time his vision adjusted enough to see through the cut-outs, he had found Sophie sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Is she talking to herself?" asked Tony, his voice hushed.

_"It would appear so, sir,"_ JARVIS answered in kind. _"There is no sound."_

"Yeah, that can't be good." Tucking the starkpad under his arm, Tony strode into the great room and made a beeline for Sophie. He picked up the bottle. "Okay, kid, when you start talking to your whiskey it's a bad time."

Studying the label, he missed the way Sophie shuddered as if released from a spell and fell forward over her knees.

"Although if you're going to have a conversation with a bottle of single malt, this is a good one to get into it with." He looked down. Sophie's head was between her knees and she was shaking. "Sof?"

The bottle and starkpad both went down on the coffee table with loud clicks as Tony rushed to Sophie's side. "Sof...Sof, sweetheart what's wrong? JARVIS, status!" He hopped over her prone body then pulled her into his arms. Shaking and trembling, she clutched at him, her fingers tensing spasmodically. "JARVIS!"

_"Save for elevated levels of endorphins, which cannot be explained by Miss Sophie's solitary and immobile state, there appears to be nothing wrong, sir."_

"Then how do you explain this?"

_"I cannot, sir."_

"I wasn't... Okay, yes I was asking you, but I wasn't...really..." Making a sound of disgust, Tony turned his full attention to Sophie. Not knowing what to do exactly, he held her, rubbing her arms and her back, and brushing her hair out of her face so he could see her better. Her eyes were closed tight but there were no tears and her lips were moving. "Is she still talking to the bottle? Please, Sophie, honey, don't make me have to take you down to Bellevue. I really don't want to have to be the one to break it to your mom that you've had a nervous breakdown. It'll put a real damper in our marital bliss. And we've been having a really good week."

"Please...please make it go away. Please."

Tony blinked. "I'm sorry, what?" If it weren't so quiet in the apartment, just the hum of the dim lights around them, he couldn't have been sure he'd heard her at all. As it was, he couldn't have heard her right. "Put what away, sweetheart?"

She squeezed her eyes tighter and clenched at his shirt. "The whiskey. Please, Papa."

Tony's eyes went from his adopted daughter to the bottle and back again. And then he remembered the conversation in his car on the way to _Rolfe's_...Pepper's secret shame hadn't been her daughter's alcoholic past, but Sophie hadn't denied one either: _"Magical maturity happened. What, in the form of a nearly fatal alcohol or drug overdose?"_

_"Uh, no, I managed not to OD."_

"JARVIS," he said with more calm than he felt, "has Sophie been drinking?"

_"Not from what I can tell, sir."_

"Sophie, have you been drinking?"

She shook her head. "But I really, really want to." She raised her head to look at him through her fringe.

Swearing soundly, Tony launched himself off the couch and snatched up the bottle of single malt. He strode to the kitchen area and the sink. "How long, Sof?" he asked as he poured the full bottle down the drain. When he turned to look at her, she was standing, torso forward as if she had meant to follow him and her fists clenched at her hips. "How long have you had a problem?"

Her voice trembled when she said, "I don't know. I didn't have as much opportunity as I would have liked when I was in high school, and I converted to Christianity my second year in college."

"Are you an alcoholic?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Steve and I drink sometimes when we go out, and it's fine. I have a couple of beers, maybe. Nothing hard. And you've seen me have wine."

"Yeah, I'm also seeing how you're watching the good stuff go down the drain."

Sophie colored. "I think I'm just a problem drinker," she said more softly. The sound carried even over the splashing liquid.

"Oh yeah? What's the problem, kid?" Tony rinsed his hands and the bottle before making his way back to the living room area. "What's going on, Sophie? When was the last time you went on a bender, anyway?"

"First year of college, right before finals," she said quickly. "Nearly failed my first ones because I overslept. And the hangover was evil bad."

Tony frowned. "That was-"

"Over five years ago. More like six or seven," she said.

Tony swore. "So let's just split the difference and say that you haven't had a serious drink in six years. What's wrong? Why now, Sophie?" He was standing in front of her on the other side of the coffee table, fists planted on his hips.

Unable to meet his eyes, Sophie slowly sank into couch behind her. "Dean..."

"What happened? What did he do?"

Sophie shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing, he...he wants to propose. He wants to marry me."

Tony stared at his adopted daughter. "I'm sorry. Say that again?"

"Dean tried to propose today. Or maybe yesterday." She shook her head. "I wouldn't let him." Her lips thinned as she clenched her jaw. "He thinks he loves me."

"Um, no, he _does_ love you otherwise there'd be a restraining order against me in his name. And the Cap and your Uncle Bruce and your Uncle Rhodey."

When the failed to get so much as a smirk out of Sophie, Tony came around the coffee table and sat beside her, arms resting on his knees. "All joking aside, that kid loves you. Really loves you. I don't understand why-"

"Because he doesn't _know_ me! He thinks he does. He thinks I'm sweet and pure and...and nice!"

"Uh, hate to break it to you again, but you are kinda all those things. Otherwise you wouldn't have an Uncle Bruce and an Uncle Rhodey or a Captain America shaped bestie." Shrugging, Tony said, "You'd probably still have me but then I like to be different. See also Agent Romanov and continued attempts to make Bruce make friends with the Hulk."

Sophie looked at him like he'd grown another head.

"What?"

"He's...he's been waiting."

"To propose? Good man. Although maybe he waited too long?"

"For his perfect match! He's a virgin, for crying out loud!"

Tony's eyes widened. "Oh! You mean waiting-waiting. Do people still do that? Did people _ever_ do that?"

"This guy does. Did." Sophie pulled her legs up onto the couch and wrapped her arms around her calves.

"And you're not pure as the driven snow."

She shook her head. "No," she said into her knees.

"Does that bother you?"

There was a long pause and then, "For him. It bothers me for him. He thinks... He only met me after I converted. He's been a Christian since, like, diapers. He doesn't know what the rest of the world is like."

Eyebrow raised, Tony crossed his arms over his chest and sat back. "He's been over to family dinners at the Tower. I've seen him laugh at my jokes. He might be a virgin, but he's not naïve. Give the boy some credit, Sof."

"But he's got me up on this pedestal!" She rubbed her nose against her kneecaps. "He's got me on this pedestal that didn't exist five or six or seven years ago." Pressing her head against her knees she said, "Back then that bottle existed. And hook-ups. And distractions that get in the way of my grades too much so I didn't have to leave run home to my mother in shame...so she didn't have to...so she could face my grandparents and not be ashamed."

Somewhere a clock ticked and the dim lights buzzed in the miserable silence, until Tony shifted on the couch. "Maybe it's you that's got you on a pedestal, kid, and you're afraid of falling off if Dean ever finds out you're human."

Sophie sniffed and turned to him. "What?"

Tony took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "We've all got a past, kid. Even your virgin lover boy. No one's that good, trust me. I mean, you're mom's pretty awesome, right?"

Sophie sniffed and nodded.

"And you look up to her and you don't want to disappoint her, right? Because she's Pepper and she's tough as nails and she basically raised you all by herself, right?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"And your mom had to raise you by herself because she did the nasty before she got the ring. Your mom...awesome woman who isn't perfect. I would use me, your awesome Papa Tony as an example, but the awesome is still something of a recent development and the shameful past is usually on E's weekly round-up."

Sophie frowned.

"I'm serious, kid. Everyone you look up to, I can bet you dollars to donuts they've got dirt. Some of it, admittedly, not so dirty like your friend Cap. But no one's squeaky clean except your God. Or so you and Cap keep trying to tell me."

Sophie chuffed, but smiled a little. Taking that as a good sign, Tony broached the space between them and tugged her towards him. She dropped her arms and immediately went, curling up against his side. With one arm draped over her shoulders and the other wrapped around her waist, Tony held her close, rubbing slow circles through the fabric of her tank top. For the first time he took note of what she was wearing—all black: a black tank top, black slacks neatly creased down the front and black socks.

"What's with the funeral wear?" he asked.

"There's a cheesy sweater around somewhere," she said into his side. "Probably near the liquor cabinet."

He frowned and looked down at her. "How long have you been not trying to drink that bottle?"

"What time is it?"

He told her. And she told him.

"Holy—"

"I didn't stare at it the entire time."

"No...sometimes you talked to it."

Sophie frowned. "Talked to it?"

"Yeah, when I came down your lips were moving but nothing was coming out. You were staring at the bottle."

For a long moment she seemed puzzled, then her brow cleared. "No...not the bottle. I was talking to God. I was praying."

"What? Why?"

Her brow furrowed again. "Because I knew what would happen if I took a drink. I was...mad at Dean. And mad at myself for not being perfect for Dean. And for some stupid reason I wanted to prove to...I thought to him but maybe to myself that I wasn't, that I'm not right for him."

"So you were going to get drunk out of your mind and then, what, screw some random guys?"

"In my head I'd only gotten as far as blackout drunk. The random guys probably would have had to wait until next week."

Tony wanted her to be joking. But he knew better. "How bad was it, that first year in New York without your mom?"

She shook her head, rubbing her forehead against his side, but he wasn't sure if it was really an answer. Softly, as if afraid to confess she said, "If I hadn't converted when I did I'm pretty sure I'd be a full blown alcoholic. I'd started drinking before college. The separation anxiety and the age difference made it worse. I had so much to prove. At least that's what I thought. And sometimes it was just so _hard_, but at the bottom of a bottle it was nice and fuzzy and warm. And on the way to the bottom I could usually get in some of the verbal eviscerations that'd I'd been holding in because, y'know, who's gonna blame the girl who got hammered anyway."

"Does your Mom know?" Although Tony was pretty sure he knew the answer to that one.

"No, and please don't tell her."

"Like the pedestal you have with her, too?"

Sophie's fingers clenched at his side. "Maybe," she breathed. "But...but I don't want to break her heart. I don't...I don't want her to look at me...and my issues...and think it's her fault. I...I was the one...I was the one who wanted to leave, and was too stubborn to go back." She was breathing loudly through her mouth as if to avoid crying.

Tony refused to check and see. "Look, kid, if you think Dean's going to be forgiving then you can apply that times ten to your Mom. She loves me, right? She married me. And, trust me, know one knows my faults better than your mom does."

"It's not the same."

"It is."

When Sophie shook her head, Tony captured her chin and lifted her face so they could look each other in the eye. "It is."

Sophie's face crumpled and she pressed herself more firmly against Tony's side. He swore. "We're telling your Mom in the morning, the real morning..."

"No."

"And we're getting you help."

"No, please. I've been good for seven years."

"Oh now you know exactly how long it's been. Sorry, kid." He glanced down at Sophie. "Look, it'll probably just mean some counseling. Nothing serious like what your old man needs—and is still refusing so don't get any ideas."

"But—"

"Do you _want_ to be like this? Running to a bottle or a booty call every time you have some personal crisis?"

"No—"

"Then we're getting you help."

_"Papa..."_

"Hey, when you gave me that name you said it was because your bio-dad had ruined the other word for you, that you wished you'd had a real father like _me_, of all people, to be your dad. Well, wish granted." He took a deep breath, then said, "It's what I wish my dad had done for me."

"They'll hate me."

Tony snorted. "We have got to deflate this ego of yours."

Sophie chuckled, a wet and unhappy sound but she didn't try to move and she didn't try to fight. After a while, as Tony felt his eyelids about to droop, he shifted and got ready to stand. Morose, Sophie pulled away to lean against the couch though she still faced him.

"Uh...you too, young lady?"

"Hmm?"

"You think I'm leaving you to spend the rest of the night with a full cabinet of liquor. And, no, I am not pouring out the rest of the bottles for you. I happen to like some of those bottles."

Brow furrowed, she said, "Then-"

"Upstairs with me and your mom. C'mon. Lets go. We can talk about the Ocean Mark 3 while we're going, which, I'd like to add, was my reason for coming down here in the first place."

Sophie nodded. "What about my stuff?"

"For sleeping? You can borrow one of my shirts. But please, no drool?"

Soon they were standing in front of the elevator, Tony with an arm slung over Sophie's should and Sophie with her arm around Tony's waist.

"Thank you, Pop."

Tony snorted. "You say that now. Wait until you're fully awake. Here, look at this." He passed her the starkpad as the elevator doors were opening. They shuffled inside and Tony pressed the button for the penthouse. "So, uh, Sophie?"

"Yes, Pop?"

He felt so stupid... "What did you, uh, pray for? I mean what were you praying for when I walked in?"

She looked from the starkpad and met his eyes. In the harsh fluorescent light of the elevator she seemed younger than she was. "To be saved. From myself. Right now."

Tony pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You're welcome."

Smiling, she rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the starkpad.

* * *

Tony stood in the doorway of his bedroom watching his girls sleep. As promised, he'd loaned Sophie one of his t-shirts to sleep in, and a pair of her mother's leggings when she'd complained of being cold. Pepper had slept through it all, wiped out as she was from the early stages of her pregnancy. Sensing the extra warmth in the bed, she'd scooted closer to her daughter.

Tony had been going to climb in with them, but the sleep that had been weighing on him only a half hour ago eluded him now.

What was he supposed to do now? It was easy to talk the big I'm-your-Papa-Tony-do-what-I-say talk downstairs in the dark with Sophie, but morning was coming and they'd have to tell Pepper. And actually _find_ Sophie counseling. And try to keep it out of the news.

Tony scrubbed his face with his hands. "Oh God..."

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: "This song is a poem to myself..." Jarrod Montague of Taproot


	13. Love's Labours (post-IM3)

******Title**: Loves Labours  
******Series**: Anywhere That You Tell Me**  
****Author**: Vashti**  
****Fandom**: post-IM3  
******Characters**: Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, OCs, Steve Rogers, Mentions of Nearly Everyone Else**  
****Rating**: PG-13**  
****Summary**: It's no longer Pepper and Sophie against the world, but Pepper's allowed some things to go on too long. Weddings are the perfect time to confront the past, after all.  
******Length**: ~5,000 words**  
****Disclaimer**: See chapter 1  
**Author's Note:** Some hurt, a _lot _of comfort in this one. Keep your toothbrush and floss handy. Here there be sugary fluff. Could also probably be better served with editing. Also, just the tiniest Agents of SHIELD crossover. I couldn't help myself.

* * *

"I just can't believe you're picking him over me!"

Sophie's breath hitched in her chest. "Dad…please…I'm not picking anyone over anyone." Her eyes beginning to swim, she hardly noticed when Minette picked up her skirt and slipped up the stairs into the church. "Please just come inside. If I had known—"

"You didn't think I was coming to your wedding?" Kyle Heinitz snapped, his face going splotchy.

"No…I didn't know and…and you never replied. I had…I had to make a decision."

"Why isn't your mother walking you up the aisle?" He made it sound like something else entirely.

Going red herself, albeit with embarrassment, Sophie said, "Because she's Mom and…" She took a deep breath. "And Tony's here."

Kyle took a step towards his daughter. "What, so you think being adopted by Iron Man makes you too good to be walked down the aisle by your own father? You're disowning me, now?"

"No…Dad, no, it wasn't like that."

"Sophie Hélène Ky—"

Steve took a step forward, stopping whatever Kyle had been going to say. "Mr. Heinitz, this isn't the time or place to discuss this."

"Oh, I think it is."

"Please, Dad. Can we just find Judith and the kids and go inside. I'll…" Sophie glanced around as if seeing her wedding party for the first time. "I'll just tell Papa Tony that you're here," she said, softly.

Kyle's eyes narrowed. "_Papa_? Papa Tony? What, he's running a pizza chain on top of everything else?"

"That's what I said when she put it out there," Tony said from the top of the church stairs. "But I was kind of honored, so I bear the indignity with, y'know, grace. You've heard of grace, right?" Pepper and little Gabe were steps behind, and Min behind them.

She ran past them to join her friend. "Don't be mad," she whispered, grasping Sophie's arm. Her hands were cold. "I couldn't let you do this alone."

"Thank you," Sophie whispered back, swiping at the tears that had overflowed.

Moving more sedately, Tony descended the stairs. "So, Kylito. You made it."

Kyle gave Tony a dismissive once over. "This doesn't concern you."

"Uh, seeing as you forfeited in the game of who-gets-to-walk-their-daughter-down-the-aisle and now you're trying to renege…yeah, I think it does concern me."

Pepper came level to Sophie and Min, Gabe in her arms, as the men sized each other up. "Where are Judy and the kids?"

Sophie shrugged helplessly, even as she was drawn into playing with her infant brother's tiny fists. "Circling the block? Hiding in the car? Which is where I'd like to be."

"How did Kyle even find out about Tony?"

"One of the ushers told him, I think," Min said.

"Mom, it's almost time! Dean's going to freak out."

Taking a deep breath, Pepper passed her infant son to Sophie. "Go inside. Get ready. I'll work this out."

"Mo—"

"Go!"

Min reached for Gabriel. "I'll take him. The last thing you need is spit-up on your dress."

Grateful, Sophie passed her baby brother to her friend. Picking up her skirts, she began climbing the stairs into the church. The rest of the wedding party, noticing, began to gather as well.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" Kyle snapped.

"Let them go, Kyle," Pepper said. "They still have to get themselves together before we can get started."

"I bet you didn't say anything to her. You were probably happy to cut me out of the wedding party."

Bristling, Tony took a step towards the other man. "Don't you—"

"Tony, it's fine," Pepper said, truly joining the fray.

"Let me handle this…" It was clear he was looking for something that wouldn't offend his adopted daughter, still in earshot, on her day. "_…jerk_. You go in with Sof and the kids."

Pepper shook her head. "No. I've been putting this off too long." She looked at Tony. "I need to handle this. For me and Sophie."

"Pep, it's not just you and Sophie against the world anymore. You know that, right? There's no way I'm letting this...troglodyte ruin her day. _Our_ day."

Smiling, Pepper took his hand. "I know. And I want you right here with me."

Kyle sneered. "Oh, how sweet. You finally as big an ego as your own. Did you manipulate him, too? You fall for the I'm Pregnant, Save Me routine, Stark?"

It was only Pepper's restraining pull—and the knowledge that no one had a bigger ego than his—that kept Tony from lunging at Kyle. "Don't you dare talk about my wife that way."

"I'll talk about _Virginia_ any way I want. I got there first, right?"

It took Steve, hanging around in case of stupidity, to hold him back. Leaving him to it, Pepper whirled on Kyle, a finger to his chest.

"I should let Tony do exactly what he wants to you right now. You know why I'm not?" She jabbed his chest again before he could answer. "Because _your_ firstborn loves you with a devotion you do not deserve. You hated me for being stupid enough to get pregnant, then maybe you should have kept it in your pants. Too scared to be a dad? If you'd said something sooner I…could have done something about it. But you were and you always have been a coward, Kyle Aaron Heinitz.

"If you aren't part of this wedding party, that's no one's fault but your own. I _personally_ wrote up the invitations for your family. I confirmed with Judy that you got them. You were the one that never responded. And I know for a fact that Sophie was texting and facebooking her sister and brothers trying to find out if you were going to be here as late as last week. Don't blame us for keeping you at arm's length when you've been doing a damn good job all of her life!

"I am tired of extending olive branches. I am tired of giving you a pass. I am tired…" She gulped for air, trying to stem angry tears that would make her look a helluva lot weaker than she felt. Taking another breath she started again, her tone the same low and determined one she used in meetings with recalcitrant boardmembers. "I am tired of you treating your daughter's heart with the same dignity your fourteen year old son gives to his clothes. You can't put her own, take her off and toss her around. Not anymore. And I'm sorry I ever allowed you to do so in first place

"If you want to _attend_ Sophie's wedding, you and Judy and the kids are welcome. I know Sophie was _heartbroken_ that you wouldn't be here. And as much of a bastard as you're being, she will be thrilled to see you in the audience. If not, then find your wife, find your kids, and get the hell away from my daughter. And don't you dare come back, Kyle. Judy, the kids…fine, but I don't ever want to hear about you from Sophie again because I can't remember the last time she had anything good to say about it."

"Virginia—"

"Don't!" Pepper was so hot with hanger, it felt like she was burning up with Extremis again. She knew just who she'd be aiming her fireball at if she were.

Steve had long since let go of Tony. Wisely neither man touched her. It felt like her hair was on fire, she was so angry. And the damn angry tears!

Pepper stormed up the stairs into the church and its cooler vestibule. Neither man was right behind, but so long as Steve had an eye on Tony she was knew things would be fine. Assuming Kyle didn't manage to piss off Steve, too. Sophie considered him a brother, and Steve's affections were nearly the same. Pepper snorted. "Serve him right," she muttered as she paced the vestibule.

A moment later, Tony and Steve strode into the church. Neither of them looked rumpled or bloodied. Then again, while Kyle was still a relatively fit man he wouldn't have a match for either of them. Pepper frowned. "What did you do to Kyle?"

"Nothing," Tony said quickly. At her look, he amended, "Well nothing physical. Some more threats, a lot of sneering, a little bit of letting Cap hold me back to make it look good. You know…all that good stuff. How about you? You okay?"

Pepper nodded.

"Can I hug you now or are you still ready to blow?"

A surprised bubble of laughter escaped her, and Tony took that as his sign. "You were amazing," he murmured into her ear. "Is this what you do to SI's board when they misbehave?"

"Something like."

"And you wanted to know why I made you CEO."

Pepper smiled, then asked, "What did he decide to do?"

"The weiner that I am oh so glad you never married? He was waiting for the wife and kids when we left him."

Steve, still standing off to the side, nodded.

Pulling herself from Tony's embrace, Pepper reached out to Steve. "Thank you so much. For everything. Sophie wouldn't have been happy if her dads had gotten into it on her wedding day."

"We're totally saving it for the next family reunion," Tony said.

Pepper tossed him an indulgent smile over her shoulder. To Steve she said, "Do you mind letting Dean and his parents know what's going on and that everything's okay. Sophie should be good by now so we won't be too late."

Steve nodded and left.

When Pepper turned, Tony was shaking his head. "You Pottses. Such sticklers for time."

Min appeared at that moment, gently wrestling Gabe's tiny fist out of one of her long curls. "How is it out here? She's ready."

Pepper nodded. "Everything's fine. Is Sophie okay?"

Min snorted. "As soon as we got into the room she got mad. Spitting mad. I had to talk her out of coming back outside. Which I knew…it wouldn't last as soon as she saw her dad. It would have been a mess all over again."

"Thank you, Minettte. That was the right decision. I'll take Gabriel so you can join the wedding party."

As they exchanged the baby, Min asked, "You didn't notice my date come in, did you?" Despite all of Sophie's matchmaking, Min and Steve had never become anything more than friends.

"Sorry, sweetheart. No tall, pale and handsome men showed up. Or if they did we were too busy, um, discussing things to notice."

Min nodded. "It's okay. He said he might not make it until the reception anyway." She gave Pepper and Tony a broad smile. "This is it! We're almost there!" With a final wave, she turned and left them.

Tony took Pepper's hand. "She's right. This is it. Your little girl's almost all grown up."

"_Our_ little girl. Well...okay, when you met her she was technically an adult but you've been...you've been amazing, Tony, in ways I couldn't have even guessed we needed five years." Drawing him close, she gave him a peck on the lips. "Thank you."

"Thank you for being my family."

Pepper swatted his arm. "Oh, Tony. Don't make me cry yet."

He laughed.

* * *

"Okay, so the gangly one holding Sophie's right hand is..."

"Jonathan," Pepper said, as she gently bent Tony's forefinger so that he was no long pointing at the teenager in question.

"And the one holding her left hand, the pudgy one-"

"Andrew isn't pudgy! That's just babyfat. He's only seven years old!"

"Yeah, like I said, the pudgy one is... Well I guess you answered that already. Uh, and the girl in the middle is May?"

Eyes narrowed, Pepper said, "How come you always manage to remember all the girls' names but forget all the guys?"

"Um..." Tony blinked. It was a trap and he knew it, but how to get out of it? "Talent? Hey there Natalatasha!" he called out, deliberately mangling the Natasha's name.

Eyebrow quirked, she detoured towards the pair. "I'm off the clock, Stark. What's up?"

"Wanna dance?"

Natasha's quirked eyebrow actually rose. "Not particularly, no." She hardly glanced at Pepper when the other woman snorted.

"Wanna make googoo eyes at a truly adorable baby?"

"Gabriel Stark and I are well acquainted."

"But you haven't seen him all day!"

Natasha turned to Pepper. "What did he do wrong?"

Pepper laughed.

* * *

Grinning, Sophie let her siblings turn her inexpertly around the room. She'd started dancing with the little ones, Andrew and May, first but in a rare show of camaraderie with his younger siblings, Jon had showed up and inserted himself. It was probably the most graceless thing ever seen on a dance floor, but Sophie was enjoying herself. Having resigned herself to not having her extended family at the wedding, there was nothing that could make her unhappy now that they were here—not even the incident with her dad. With them living in Colorado and her in California then New York, Sophie counted every moment with her half-siblings as precious. Even now Jon was starting to prepare for college and who knew where he would end up.

"Oh no," little May said. "There she goes again."

"What again?" Sophie asked, smiling despite her swimming eyes.

"With the waterworks."

"And who taught you a big word like 'waterworks', young lady?" May was only four, after all.

"Daddy. When Mommy watches a movie, he says 'There go the waterworks again. Better get Mommy the box this time.'"

Sophie was sure that Jon had seen her smile dim when May mentioned their father, but she hoped the younger two didn't notice. For a long time their life had been her dream, and even though she finally had the father she'd been missing for so many years it still hurt to know that he'd chosen someone else over her and her mother.

"Hey!" Jon said. "I wanna try something. You kids step back."

Andrew and May immediately protested. "It'll be quick, I swear!"

"He _always_ says that," Andrew said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Trying to ameliorate things—the worst was far behind them—Sophie said, "How about after this, just you and me, Drew?"

He punched the air. "Yeah!"

Smiling, Sophie turned to her younger brother. "Okay, Jon, what're we trying?"

"This!" He grabbed her and tried to dip her. Fast.

Sophie shrieked and went down, totally unprepared for the move. And not realizing just how overbalanced they were, Jonathan went down too. They were soon tangled in the netting, tulle and satin of Sophie's full skirt.

"Do you need help?" May called from over Sophie's head.

Sophie just laughed.

* * *

When Janae's eyes focused on something over Steve's shoulder, he turned trying to follow her gaze. "What is it? Something happen?"

She slapped his chest lightly. "You are the biggest worrywort I have ever met."

"And yet you love me," he said with a smile.

"Stranger still, all six of my brothers love you."

Steve chuckled. "But seriously, what did you see."

"And impossible to distract," she added, before saying, "I think Min's date just came in. Remember she was talking about him on the way over. Tall, handsome, dark hair, super pale...wicked sense of humor."

Steve frowned. "He wasn't at the wedding?"

Janae shook her head. "But she said that _he_ said he might not make until the reception anyway. He's got great timing, he missed all the toasts."

"They weren't that bad," Steve said. He began to color. "Were they?"

Patting his chest again, Janae said, "Yours was the best, sweetie. You even managed to shave a couple of hours off the original."

He groaned and laughed, dropping his forehead to rest against Janae's. So like his Peggy...headstrong, fearless, well-educated and well-skilled in an industry not particularly known to be friendly to women, and yet all woman. And yet so unlike Peggy. He'd hardly known any Colored people ("Black" now, he reminded himself) when he was growing up, just some of the custodians in his old haunts and Gabe when he was in the Army. But here he was...dating one. The prettiest woman he'd seen in a long, long time. Janae's brothers had been intimidating, but allowing a little thing like six New York City police officers stop him from trying with her? Peggy would have never let him live it down.

She slapped his chest again. "Hey, get out of your head, soldier. Besides, Bride down at your 6?"

"Huh? What?" Steve turned. There was an off-white blob surrounded by three children who were doing a questionable job of helping it to its feet. Steve chuckled. "Let's see what we can do."

* * *

Min looked up just in time. There he was! Standing right in the doorway!

She abandoned her place in line at the buffet table and ran over to him. "Luke, you made it!" Even in heels she had to stand on tip-toe to kiss him. He obligingly bent down to her, his warm English accent rolling over her like a cloak. "Of course. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Grinning, Min drew her date, Luke, into the ballroom.

* * *

"We should attend more wedding feasts," Thor told Darcy. He'd already tried making his remarks to his lady Jane, but she and Bruce had gotten off onto a lengthy conversation that was going over the heads of everyone at their table while Thor wasn't looking.

Darcy, on the other hand, seemed just as thrilled to be stuffing her face. "It's pretty awesome. I wonder if I can convince Stark to foot the bill if I ever get hitched."

Thor frowned. "Why would you want Stark to pay for such a painful proceeding?"

"No, no, big guy. 'Getting hitched' is a euphemism for getting married. Like hitching to cars together? Or I guess since it's old-timey, hooking your carriage up to your horses."

"Ah ha!" This Thor understood, even if Midgardian horses were woefully small and under-hoofed.

Darcy on the other hand… "So I wonder…does that make me the horse or the carriage?"

Having long since learned not to pursue these musings of Darcy's, Thor said, "I would hope that you would allow me to sponsor your vows."

Darcy's eyes popped open until they were almost bigger than her plate. "Say what?"

"My Jane regards you as dear to her as a sister. As the sister of my beloved, it would be my honor to sponsor your vows," Thor said with all solemnity.

"Seriously?"

He frowned. "For what purpose would I deceive you."

"Aw, you big lug!" She threw herself at him, hugging him tight around the neck—about the only place she could get her arms around him. "You are such a softie and I love it. Thank you! I mean, who knows if that whole marriage thing is even a thing that will happen to me, but, like, to even promise?" She hugged him again.

Which was when Jane decided to come up for air. "Hey, I'm sitting right here."

Darcy chuckled. "You have the best boyfriend ever."

"You're darned tootin'."

Darcy laughed. And laughed harder when Thor asked what a 'tootin' was and how did one darn such an item.

* * *

"Uh, what're we watching? Looks like a party."

Phil Coulson looked at Skye over his shoulder, then turned his attention back to the large screen. "It is a party."

"We goin'?"

Coulson shook his head. "Not this time."

"Aww." Her pout only lasted a moment before she became serious again. "So is there some...mark or someone that SHIELD wants us to track? Are we doing agent surveillance? Bomb threat? Bio-testing? Keeping the world safe for another day? What's the what?"

He shook his head again. "Just watching."

Skye quirked an eyebrow. "Have I told you lately how weird you are?"

Coulson glanced at her over his shoulder. "Not in the last few days, no."

"Oh, well...weird. I'm gonna go find Grant, that bastion of normality."

Coulson smiled.

* * *

Sophie turned at the hand on her shoulder. Her face immediately warmed, although from what emotion she couldn't say. "Dad."

Kyle Heinitz dropped his hand. "We've gotta go, Sof. We have an early start tomorrow and the kids..."

Sophie nodded, emphatically. "Of course! Of course, that's fine. I'm just... You have no idea what it means to me that you made it, you and Judy and the kids." Smiling tremulously, she said, "They're getting so big."

"Yeah, I know. Jon will be in college in a couple of years."

"He told me! I can hardly believe it."

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Kyle rocked back on his feet. "You're telling me. He, uh, did he tell you where he wants to go to school?"

"Only that he wants to get out of Colorado," she said, her smile growing. "Typical teenager."

"He, uh, actually mentioned wanting to come to New York."

Sophie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Really! The city or somewhere upstate."

"Jon's looking at a few options, but I'm pretty sure he meant the city."

"That would be _wonderful_." She was nearly on tip-toe with joy. "Oh why didn't he tell me! Stupid boy!" she said with a wide grin.

Kyle shrugged. "His mother doesn't want him to go. She's worried about the danger."

"That's fair." Some of Sophie's joy deflated as she conceded the point.

"But, hey, you never know."

She nodded. Her anxiety was ratcheting back up as it became obvious that her father was ready to go. "Um, so...uh, let me know? I will do my best to look out for him if he lands anywhere in the tri-state area. You have to know that, right Dad?"

Kyle's lips lifted in a small smile. "Of course I do, Sof. You've always been very generous to your half-brothers and -sister."

"They're my brothers and sister. No half anything. I never wanted to be half of anything." Only belatedly did she realize how that sounds. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I didn't mean-"

Kyle held up a hand. "Don't worry, Sof." He stuffed his hands back in his pockets. "I'm sorry about...earlier."

"It's okay."

He shrugged. "Come say goodbye to the kids and then we'll be off."

"Okay. Let me just go grab Dean."

* * *

Bruce frowned and Jane frowned back. "That is a perfectly reasonable theory! I dare you to find a hole-"

"No...no, you're right. It's just... Does that look like Loki to you? With Min at the buffet table?"

"Who?"

"Min. Minette. She's one of Sophie's best friends." At Jane's continued confusion, he added, "She was the Maid of Honor."

"Oh!" Jane whipped her head around. "I can't be sure from this angle." She tapped Thor's arm. "Who's that with Min?"

"Who is Min?" he asked.

Bruce dropped his face into his hands.

"The Maid of Honor" Jane said, to which Darcy quickly added, "Who helped with the dress and carried the flowers"

"Oh! Whereabouts would Lady Min be?"

"By the buffet table."

He turned to look and frowned. "If I did not know better I would say 'tis my brother."

Bruce swore under his breath.

"Do not fear, Doctor. I shall investigate."

Darcy leaned over and caught Bruce's eye. "Stark took out insurance on this place, right?"

Bruce snorted.

* * *

To Thor's surprise it was, in fact, Loki albeit with a mild glamor that offset his features. Standing so close to him, however, seemed to ruin the effect. "Brother! You _are _here! For what purpose?"

Loki smiled. "So observant. Why do you think I'm here?"

"To cause some mischief, no doubt."

"To be disturbingly honest, I did give it serious thought. The wedding of Stark's adoptive daughter is rife with opportunity." Loki sighed, pouting melodramatically. "It turns out, however, that my talents were not needed after all. Stark's daughter managed to provide enough entertainment on her own."

Thor glowered at his brother.

"Tut tut," Loki said in an admonishing tone. "I'm sure even Stark would look down on getting blood all over the dance-floor."

"I wouldn't," Barton muttered, seeming to appear from nowhere.

"Luke!" Min called, circling back to where Loki stood near the end of the line. Her smile broadened when she spotted Thor and Barton. "Oh good...have you guys met? I've been terrible about making introductions!"

"I assume you all know my girlfriend," Loki said with only a touch of triumph in his voice. "We've been dating for some time."

"Yeah, I bet."

Min slipped her arm around "Luke's" waist. "Isn't that accent...mmm?"

Barton made as if to gag behind the pair. Thor, watching them closely, caught the genuine affection Loki had for the Midgardian woman. He was not keen on being touched, especially so wantonly, by those he considered beneath him. His broad grin lit up his face.

"Brother!" Thor engulfed the pair in a bear hug. Min squeaked, too worried about being suffocated to wonder why Thor Odinson had made a familial claim on her guy.

Struggling against the affection, Loki reached behind him to swat at Barton. "I give you leave to shoot me. Now. Particularly if it will cut through his heart."

Barton smirked.

* * *

Tony looked around. The place was a wreck of damaged decorations—way too many kids had been invited to this shindig in his opinion—abandoned plates and glasses, and the occasional inebriated friend/relative still in need of a ride. He brought his gaze back to Sophie, wrapped in his arms. "Somebody sure knows how to throw a party."

She giggled. "It wasn't too bad, was it, Pop?"

"Nah. It was kind of nice, even. Although I could have done without Loki showing up."

A stricken look crossed Sophie's face. "Do you really think Minette's going to be okay?"

"Thor seems to think so. A couple of years ago that would have had red flags all over it, what with his Loki-sized blind spot. But, uh, he's kind of matured. Like a blond puppy. Maybe a lab."

Giggling again, Sophie slapped Tony's chest. "I'm being serious."

"So am I! More or less."

She snorted. Sighing softly, she tucked herself under his chin as they continued to sway to the soft music playing over the speakers. Pepper was changing Gabe, while Dean was putting his parents—much older than Tony and Pepper—into their limo and wrangling transportation for the rest of them. In the morning, the six (seven including Gabriel) of them would have breakfast at the Kang's hotel, then go the airport where they'd get to do it all again in Korea!

"I am so tired."

Thoughts running along the same lines, Tony angled his head down to look at his daughter. "No one told you to have two ceremonies. Even the Kang's think you're nuts."

"I know!" She hid her face in his chest.

"Hey, you wouldn't be your mom's kid if weren't at least a little bit of an overachiever. At everything."

"Pop!"

His laugh rumbled under her ear as they kept swaying. "So how's it feel to be Mrs. Dean Kang?"

"I don't know yet. This might be the least I've ever seen Dean in the six months."

Tony laughed again. "Sophie Hélène Kylie Kang. Hey, your name rhymes now."

She groaned. "Don't remind me."

"You could have kept your maiden name. Or hyphenated."

"Sophie Hélène Kylie Potts-Stark-Kang? That's ridiculous."

"Well yeah if you're gonna use _all_ of your names. I thought you'd just keep the Potts."

She looked up at him and frowned. "Really, Pop?" She plopped herself back on his chest. "Although I am keeping my maiden for my professional life. I haven't been a Potts-Stark for long. It seemed goofy to change all of my professional stuff again and so soon."

"Yeah...well..." Tony took a deep breath against the sudden tears in his eyes. What the hell? That was Pepper's job.

"You okay up there, Pop?"

"Yeah! Yeah of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

Frowning, she lifted her head again. "You only babble when you're so not okay."

"Well... If you must know... I..." He smoothed her hair where it had come loose from its elaborate style. "I'm gonna miss you, kid."

Sophie smiled. "We're staying in New York, Papa."

"It won't be the same. And it isn't fair. I hardly got any time with you."

"Oh!" Sophie's eyes began to fill.

"I'm pretty sure I would have been...a really, really craptastic father, but I wish I'd been around to watch you grow up into t

* * *

his...this amazing woman who lets me be her personal pizza man."

Sophie's laugh was wet with unshed tears. She hit Tony's chest.

"That's starting to hurt you know."

She chuffed. "Whatever, you big softie." Sliding her arms up and around his neck, she positioned her head in the crook of his neck. "I'm pretty sure that I would have been a fairly crappy, know-it-all kid...but I wish you'd been around back then, too. Papa Tony."

"I love you, kid."

"You too, Mr. Stark."

"Sof, you don't remember what I said would happen if you ever called me 'Mr. Stark' again, do you?"

"Sure. You said you'd—" Sophie began shrieking with laughter.

Tony had attacked her sensitive sides, tickling her. "What? What was that?"

Grinning and laughing, Sophie tried dancing out of his arms and the reach of his nimble fingers. "Nothing...!" Then she finally broke free. "Mr. Stark."

"Get over here!"

They were still laughing and chasing each other around the ballroom when Pepper and Dean came back. "Somehow I expected a more tender scene," Pepper said, watching them fondly. "I have no idea why."

Grinning, Dean said, "You didn't really think that, Mrs. P. Tell the truth."

"I had hopes." Sophie and Tony came swerving around the three of them, ducking and dodging around the adults. "Don't you dare wake up, Gabriel!" Pepper snapped at them, pulling her infant son closer to her chest.

"Dean!" Sophie cried as she sped off, Tony right behind. "Help me!"

Laughing, he tossed a smile at Pepper and the baby. "Coming dear."

[in]Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2:** This was still an idea when I posted the last story, and as such it's taken me a while to put it all together. Plus, every time I looked at some new detail just _needed_ to be added. Also, I'd like to blame the real Minette for liking her men tall, pasty and mischievous. Talk about throwing a wrench at my monkeys! ;)

Thank you everyone for sticking with the stories, for all the follows and favorites. I hope you've enjoyed them. Particular thanks go out to SelenitaLuna and KLCtheBookworm for their unflagging support.


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